A physician sees end-of-life care through a religious lens

In my second year of residency, I was on the hematology/oncology service where we were taking care of a pleasant lady in her 80s who was admitted with pancreatic cancer. It was apparent that the disease had spread rapidly, and when we discussed her at rounds, we knew that she likely had a few months to live, at best. We also knew, however, that there were life-extending treatment options we could provide. When we walked into her room and presented these to her, she was attentive and listened respectfully, and she ultimately decided not to pursue any more treatment. What struck me was how content she was with the decision and how no objection was made by the oncologist. Surely, such a decision in terms of choosing to ultimately die instead of prolong one’s life required more discussion than this (or so I thought). But, just like that, the decision was made, and the conversation was over. With all the questions that came to my mind regarding the patient’s acceptance of her mortality and our decision not to push her treatment, I wished at that moment that there could be easy answers. None came. Instead, I started thinking about the role of patient autonomy and the physician’s role at the end of life. And then, even more questions started to rise. Was it OK for us to allow the patient to decide not to continue life-prolonging treatment? When it came to her impending death, was it right for us to just allow it to happen without any other medical interventions? Was it cruel o...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Hospital-Based Medicine Palliative Care Source Type: blogs