"A splendid people with much to recommend them," said Leonard. "I always thought it was the presence of the desert. It leads to an urgency of thought. It makes you aware of the briefness of life."
The Patrician glanced at another page. Between a sketch of a bird's wing and a careful drawing of a ball-joint was a little doodle of something with spiked wheels and spinning blades. And then there was the device for moving mountains aside...
The father of a batchmate in high school is a patient of mine. He initially presented with stage 3 disease but eventually progressed to stage 4 after combined modality treatment for lung cancer. Unfortunately, the family cannot afford frontline immunotherapy and so we were left with limited options.
He visited me after one of his sessions. He asked me how many days he has left.
I was taken aback. Around five minutes of silence. I was too silent for words. Oblivious and hesitant for the truth.
I then gave him numbers based on clinical trials. Who am I to play God though?
I am reminded of how beatiful yet fleeting life is-- similar to these cherry blossoms. I still feel blessed to be able to touch the lives of people on their final days-- beautiful and fleeting at the same time.
people come, people go. people disappoint you, people make you proud. people let you down, people support you... just remember it's always people, that they have their own demons and problems and that we all, as people and humans, aren't perfect.
give others the right amount of importance in your life. and make your life a priority, despite whatever happens around it that depends on others, and not on you. be present, celebrate your wins and your losses, and stay by your side as much as you can through it all.
tiktok is dangerous b/c it showed me a lifehack where you use a really simple wooden dish rack as a little bookshelf you can hang on the wall and now I'm going to blow all my money on really simple wooden dish racks