I saw a lovely 83-year-old lady in the office today. She had a blood clot in her lower leg veins, and her primary doctor sent her for a consultation. Her daughter-in-law of 35 years brought her and provided most of the history. The clot itself was not significant, but the process of discovering that involved chatting with them and observing their interaction. This was not a cancer related visit, and did not involve the angst that diagnosis brings. But it brought to life a lovely essay published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which outlines the author’s experience of discovering why we practice medicine. We know that we want to help and do good. Oncology has become so much more intellectually and professionally challenging with the rapidly changing science and options of treatment. All that is true, and balances the daily frustrations of dealing with insurance issues, institutional politics and the constant anxiety of making the right decisions. But at the end of the day, it gives me the opportunity to have a window into, and be fascinated by people’s lives.

http://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.2017.76.6477