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by briandon
1411 days ago
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As a person who has lost loved ones to cancer and has advocated for others the medical system was ready to write off but who recovered, left hospital, and lived years longer, the nihilism in your comment is alarming. If you work exclusively in hospice or exclusively with terminal patients who want only palliative care, it may be alright. Otherwise, it's very concerning. Why change a tire on your car, given that the car only has "a few more decades" (likely less) of useful life left? The engine might blow up before that or it might get totaled in an accident. Why darn a sock when, after a few more wash-and-dry cycles, the material in other places will have thinned enough that it has to be replaced anyway? Why plant a tree? It may be attacked by insects or blight and die as a sapling. Or it may be cleaved in half by a lightning strike. Attempting to persuade or funnel a person facing certain or near-certain death but who still wishes to fight for their own life into giving up or refusing or discouraging them in their attempts to eke out a bit more life is reprehensible and unforgivable and something I hope you have never done. |
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I have dedicated my life and career to treating cancer patients, prolonging their overall survival however incremental. My avocation is exactly what you talk about when you talk about the tire, sock, or tree. Every day I wake up and do that, and it's just not possible if one does not want their patients to live longer with good quality of life.
I think nihilism exists only there if you view death as the ultimate end of everything. My view is the very opposite, that life has meaning and death is a part of life, and so it too has meaning. So you and I agree on that. I try to get my patients to view death as meaningful too when it cannot be avoided.
At the same time, where I think the misunderstanding takes place is this: I too have also seen chemotherapy and radiation and surgery injure and kill patients prematurely. People should listen up if their doctor is telling them to hold off on additional treatment. It's not giving up, but in the vein of "do not harm." It may shorten your life.
Some articles for you to consider
Early Palliative care prolongs life https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1000678
This article captures it well https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/health/20doctors.html