Lack of Empathy or Scared of Mortality?

An article in today's Boston Globe caught my eye....a small study conducted at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Houston assessed verbal interactions between patients diagnosed with lung cancer and their physicians.

Here is an example of one of the verbal interactions:

During an appointment with his doctor, a man diagnosed with lung cancer sounded dispirited when talking about what cigarettes had done to him:

"I was always told I had a good strong heart and lungs. But the lungs couldn't withstand all those cigarettes...asbestos and pollution and secondhand smoke and all those other things, I guess", the man told his doctor.

"Do you have glaucoma?", the doctor responded, abruptly changing the subject."

In the study analysis researchers identified 384 times during these interactions when patients mentioned concerns, worries and emotions concerning their mortality and deadly diagnosis...their doctors responded with empathy only 39 times or approximately 10% of the time! Wow...how very sad for both the patients and the physicians, that they each missed an opportunity to make a human connection. However, when I thought about the study, was it really a lack of empathy on the physicians' part or were the physicians simply scared and unsure of what to do and say to a patient with a terminal diagnosis? Perhaps acknowledging and honoring the human emotions that exist for both the patient and the health care practitioner is the first step to providing competent and compassionate health care.

What do you think?

Let Me Down Easy....What is Grace?

What is grace?...That is the overarching theme and question that resonates in Anna Deavere Smith's new one woman dramatic work Let Me Down Easy: a play in evolution currently being performed through October 11 at the American Repertory Theatre (Loeb Drama Center Harvard Square) in Cambridge, MA. I had the incredible experience of being in the audience on September 16 to witness and share in the journey Anna leads us through during the two hour performance. Through the stories and voices as varied as Ann Richards, former governor of Texas to Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist Monk; from Jean Damascene Uwikijie, a Hutu prisoner in Rwanda to Dr. Phil Pizzo, Dean of Stanford Medical School; we are confronted with looking at ways in which our bodies and souls are both resilient and vulnerable. A sense of wonder, beauty, stamina, fear, grief and courage shine through all the vignettes...a snapshot into simply being human. "The only whole heart is a broken one, it lets the light in..."says the voice of Rabbi David Wolpe in Let Me Down Easy. Perhaps this is the essence of grace, to open oneself to the frailty and resilience of the human spirit with compassion and awe. What does grace mean to you? I would love to hear from you!

September....NEW YEAR

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience
to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."
Eleanor Roosevelt--diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962)

For me, the beginning of September feels like "the new year". Perhaps this is a vestige from my school days when the anticipation of new notebooks, sharpened pencils and the carefully selected first day of school outfit loomed large in my life. I love the way September days seem bright with promise, even though nothing except the calendar page has changed. Do you also feel this way? Why not embrace this month of September as an eager learner again? As lifelong learners we can learn to observe the fear that accompanies any change, while also relishing in the fact that we are never too old to challenge ourselves with new ideas, dreams and goals. I invite you to take this opportunity to sharpen a new pencil or two, take out a fresh piece of notebook paper, and write down at least one new thing you will try during this "new year" that you have never tried before...I promise there will be no pop quizzes or graded exams this time around!

Enjoy the anticipation,
Pam