I must admit that I used to associate you with Charon, the ancient Greek ferryman who helped people cross the river Styx and enter the afterlife. This was before I met you. It was not that I did not appreciate your work. It was that I found it difficult to navigate my feelings because I associated the referral to you with the loss of them. When I first started scribing, you were not even on my radar. I had been so worried about working in oncology, thinking death would be skulking around every corner. I was afraid that I would come to work on Monday, and the bad news from the weekend would pounce. It was not like that, and I felt relieved. But I still dreaded the day when I would need to turn to you. And then we had an appointment with RM. He was suffering from so much pain. His cancer had metastasized to his bones, and he used the word “pain” 24 times during our 15-min appointment. At the end, the doctor turned to me and told me to place my first referral to palliative care, to you.
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