An extremely moving conversation that I had with one of the most renowned doctors in the country and a part of which I would definitely want to share with all (for I believe it’s one of the most important food for thoughts you might want to delve deep into) about what happens when a patient is courageous enough to ask whether it’s time.

“You see, the word doctor in itself is derived from something which means ‘to teach’. Often people think, it’s very convenient for a doctor to witness someone dying in front of their eyes.”

“Trust me, it’s the most difficult and the most moving of things, no matter how habitual we become of the same, feeling utterly disgusted with the lack of capabilities we docs seem to possess coupled with the plethora of agony and emotions that we get to witness on a daily basis”

“And when a patient is courageous enough to ask, whether it’s time, it leaves us no scope and puts us under a situation which is dreaded by every doc worldwide, no matter how logical and practical it might sound to be.”

“On the basis of the little knowledge that we docs seem to have, we do have a probable guess about the chances, yet who are we to deny that miracles don’t happen.”

“On one hand, by letting the patient and the family know about the probables, gives them time to spend the same in the most meaningful of manners in which they can; on the other hand, what if we are wrong about the probables, what if miracle was supposed to happen but didn’t, what if the patient wanted to undergo the treatment, yet we deprived him/her of the same, and many such questions tend to haunt us day-in-day-out”

“At the end of the day, it comes down to a very basic question, what are docs there for?Are they there for relieving one of their suffering, do they exist because one day, they might be able to become capable of creating miracles? Or there existence in turn enables them ‘to teach’ one how to die in the most joyful manner and to facilitate the same.”

“After all, the only certainty in our lives is death itself. For patients, ‘letting go’ might be the toughest of tasks they have ever done, but for doctors, may be they were meant to become a friend, philosopher and guide in the last stages of the bliss, very fondly referred to as life, bestowed upon every individual by the creator himself/herself.”

Source for the Image: https://pixabay.com/en/photos/doctor/