New in Hastings Center Report: Patient as Gift
“I had cared for him many times in the past,” writes a physician about an extremely difficult patient. “He had been sick for nearly three decades and was a constant presence in the hospital. Among house staff, he was notorious. During sign‐out, the residents would eye the list of patients, spot Mr. R's name, and sigh. Sometimes they'd groan. If they verbalized anything, it was usually to the effect of, ‘Oh, I took care of him before. He's tough.’” But once the physician listened to him tell his life story – starting with his devastating diagnosis at age 40 and what it meant for him to lose nearly everything to illness – her view of him changed, and so did he. Read the essay for free.
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