Book Review: “Everything Happens For A Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved” by Kate Bowler

by Andrew Garcia (@ndyG83)“We can focus on your comfort always means we’re giving up.” I can’t count how many times I’ve heard this sentiment from both patients and other healthcare providers, and to read it both frustrated and encouraged me at the same time. It’s frustrating because to know that what I do, as a palliative care physician, to help patients and their families during some of their darkest, scariest, heartbreaking and most painful moments, is seen as ' giving up ' when it couldn ’t be any more different. Yet, I also find it encouraging because it reminds me that there is much work left to be done on educating everyone on the importance of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM).“Everything Happens For A Reason and Other Lies I ’ve Loved” isDuke Divinity history professor Kate Bowler’s personal perspective on how being diagnosed with cancer disrupted her " seemingly perfect life " and forced her to question what matters most when it comes down to the very real fact that she is dying. Her perspective is real and authentic, and at times unapologetic in its portrayal of her interactions with family, friends, and the medical community. For example, she writes, “She moves through the pleasantries with enough warmth to suggest that, at least on social occasions, she considers herself to be a nice person” describing an interaction during a post-op appointment with a PA. Stories of this nature are always a good reminder that what we do and how...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Tags: book book review cancer garcia patient experience Source Type: blogs