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We may see medical people as harden individuals who can keep their wherewithal in the midst of life and death situations, but we must never forget that their humanity is an added burden for they fully understand the gravity of the situation regardless of the patient.
An oncological nurse shared that her husband contracted cancer of the esophagus. The doctors for whom she worked treated her husband. The husband had smoked cigarettes and drank liquor during their marriage.
The nurse said the husband took chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She could feel the bad news coming in the treatment reports although the doctors never shared this information with her until all of the data was on hand.
The nurse said the cancer spread to the husband’s brain and lungs. She seemed to have to struggle to contain her emotions as she shared that her husband did not stop smoking in his very grave condition. The husband died at 44 years old leaving her with five children – 2 biological and 3 step children.
After the husband’s funeral the nurse said she was confronted with the decision to change professions. She argued the case that oncological nursing was all she knew because she had worked in it for 15 years. The nurse said she went back to continue her work with the oncological doctors where she is happy today.
The nurse said five years after her husband’s death she was able to kick the smoking habit herself. She was a young woman who had been married to an older man, so she said after she stopped smoking she picked up a good deal of weight that she is now struggling to lose. This nurse appeared very excited about being a grandmother through one of her stepchildren.
When I tumbled the oncological nurse’s story over in my mind it was obvious that medical people must suffer added pain when they understand that they or family members have a terminal illness. The issues become, “How much medical assessment can you accept and make rational decisions on yourself and family members? How much trust do you put in your doctors’ judgment to make life and death decisions on you and family members?”
