Guess Where
Here is a thoughtful, and thought-provoking, piece about
miracle cures, palliative care, and the physician’s dilemma. Read it.
My impressions: It
used to be a simple, if painful, matter for a doctor tending a dying cancer
patient to tell the truth – we have exhausted all therapies, you are going to
die, so consider palliative care. Now,
however, with immunotherapy and personalized medicine available (albeit at
tremendous cost), the matter is far less clear-cut. Such is our ferocious desire to live that
even people in their 80s will choose to fight on, even though (says the
article), only about 15% of patients will respond – and we don’t know who they
are. And, of course, side-effects may be
horrendous.
I will be 85 in a few weeks.
If I contract cancer, for God’s sake don’t let me try anything
heroic. I want to exit life with a smile
on my face and a vodka in my hand!
And surrounded by my loving family, of course. A phone call from the President would help - so long as it isn't Trump.
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