Getting to the finish line with a patient can mean many different things in my world. It could mean we have exhausted all standard of care treatment options and there is nothing left to try. It could mean the patient is nearing death. Every once and a while it means we have completed curative intent […]
Mr. JC died from metastatic colon cancer a few months ago. He was only forty-four years old. The day he died, his wife lost her husband, and his dog lost his best friend. We shared pictures of our dogs many times. The photo posted with JC’s obituary was a lovely one of JC with Sarg […]
EP has been my patient for almost a year. He has a diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer. Some people would have written him off as a lost cause and given up on him, but I have a soft spot for him. I haven’t given up on him. More importantly, he hasn’t given up on himself […]
The fifty-four-year-old man across from me this week asked, “How will it happen?” He was sitting beside his wife who had visible tears in her eyes. Her tears had formed a few moments before as I was explaining her husband was barely balancing on the tightrope between life and death. His body was tipping so […]
Most of the benefits my patients receive from my work as a medical oncologist comes from the drugs I prescribe for their cancers. Some of these drugs can increase cure rates. Some of these drugs do not help cure a cancer but can prolong the life of the cancer patient whose cancer is not curable. […]
The first meeting I had with Mrs. M is burned into a part of my brain. It will stay there as if I’ve been branded, a forever memory. Mrs. M presented to my new patient clinic one year ago. She came with her husband. They were equally lovely, quiet-spoken with delightful Irish accents, highly anxious, […]
“I bet I can guess how old you are in three tries,” I said to the girl who sat in a chair colouring. She was wearing one of those shirts with the kind of sequence beads that can be brushed one way to make one design and another to reveal a different design. I knew […]
“I am too positive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful, and too determined to be defeated.” This is an anonymous quote from the card given out at Marcel’s funeral. Marcel’s wife sent me this card. It is a beautiful quote. From what I knew of Marcel, he embodied these words. Let me help […]
March is colorectal cancer awareness month. Considering this, for the next four weeks, I thought I would highlight a few of the colorectal cancer patients I have had over the years who have impacted me in one way or another. Carole is one of these patients. I met Carole in February of 2017 when she […]
A patient of mine died unexpectedly this week. He had colorectal cancer. I only met this man three times. Still, his death has impacted me. Our first meeting was for his initial consultation to discuss chemotherapy to cure his cancer. I recommended six cycles of chemotherapy. His chemotherapy was to start shortly after the radiation […]
Join me, through the stories I tell, and see the hope, grit, grace, and love that can be found in a cancer journey.
