Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Palliative Care

  • And a time to die

    Katherine ArnupOttawa, Canada “You’re going to be an expert at this by the time you’re done with me,” my sister joked, shortly before her death from cancer at 51. “Maybe,” I protested, “but I don’t want to learn it from you.” Four years later, I began volunteering at a hospice near my home. By the…

  • Miriam’s stoicism

    Elizabeth NegliaDurham, North Carolina, United States “Refused?” I asked incredulously. She’s in pain on her deathbed. Why would she refuse? Sarah, the night nurse, sleepily rejoined, “I told Miriam to take it, but she won’t. I don’t get it either.” It was 7 am. Sarah was eager to go home, and I needed to start…

  • Three Visits

    Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece Prelude She rings at the recommendation of a colleague who knows my interest in lung cancer and palliative care. “It is about my father, doctor.” I suggest that she brings me his films and tests for a briefing before I get to meet him. We arrange an appointment, and she comes with…

  • What Matters

    Anne ClementeCharlottesville, Virginia, United States Poet’s statement When I worked in the Palliative Care Unit, a friend of mine died leaving her child behind. At that time, I had been working on the second half of this poem. Her young death made me deeply wonder how one prepares and grieves for oneself and those left…

  • La Maison: A palliative care center in France

    Eric BreitbartNew York City, New York, United States Gardanne, the last stop on the local train from Marseilles to Aix-en-Provence, was once a thriving mining center. Today, with only one hotel, a few restaurants, and no monuments worth mentioning, the town has little to entice the crowds of tourists who flock to its better-known neighbors…