I came across this line while reading an article on the internet one evening during my palliative care elective rotation and found that it described palliative medicine so aptly. Saving death. How ironic, but reflecting on the cases I saw during my elective, there is no better way to describe what the team does on a daily basis. Mr. Lim was a Chinese gentleman in his late 70s, diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, and had been with the team for the past month. During morning rounds he always appeared distant, staring into space, never saying more than what was being asked. One evening I decided to pull up a chair and speak to him. He spoke openly about his diagnosis, his fall, his pain, and then he started crying. He began sharing with me about his partner, his stepson, his gradual decline in function, the severe pain in his back and knees, and his home to which he longed to return before he passed on. He used to be a man who enjoyed living an independent life, going for walks in the park and enjoying coffee breaks with his friends at the coffee shop below his home, the very same few steps that led to his fall and admission. He was a simple man who wanted simple things in life, but there he was that evening in tears, frustrated with the pain and loss of function, saddened by the abandonment of his partner and the overwhelming feeling of loneliness. He felt useless and hopeless, to the point of expressing a wish to end his life.
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