Eerie coincidences
The grim reaper has been hanging around the ward this past few days.
You could sniff death in the air.
The hospital PA system decided to aid in enhancing the atmosphere by playing soft music in the background. Lest you think they were playing dragostea din tei (the catchy song from chicken little), it was actually 'Amazing Grace'.
For the uninitiated, amazing grace is the standard funeral hymn.
And the ultimate eerie incident to cap off the day.
I was riding the train home when I saw the back of the newspaper a man was reading. And I couldn't help but notice that it was an obituary. On closer inspection, I realised it was actually a patient of mine that passed on yesterday.
What were the chances of that happening? And the patient was actually someone whom I had seen since I started SIP, whom I've seen him go through diagnosis, palliative care and death.
"Death is a distant rumor to the young." ~Andrew A. Rooney~
Not to me, at least not this week.
Wei Qiang converses @ 20:30
4 Comments:
actually, the chance of that happening is pretty high. that's why most of us in the dept. read obituaries.
it's so depressing. the patients that i've been taking care of this past month are all dying.
i'm starting to read the obituaries too, it's like looking at my patient list.
sigh...
not in the least depressing. goal in curable patients is to cure! goal in adjuvant patients is to prevent (cure) relapse. (these 2 groups generally seen in outpatient setting, not in ward) goal in metastatic patients is to delay and ease the eventual / final passage (seen often in inpatient setting). we're often surprisingly successful in reaching these goals. only if one inadvertently confuses these goals does depression take place. to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always.
i agree. it just that being in the ward setting, seeing the patients make me wonder why cancer should befall on them. i know it's all genetic and environmental factors but some of them are so young or premorbidly so well.
sorry i won't be going for the dept party, got an impt family dinner. would have loved to see what fun the house is. :)
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