Last week, a fourth year student excitedly came over to my Neurology course director to tell him about an interesting case with neurological findings. I got assigned the patient, and to my pleasant suprise I could take a full history since he spoke Urdu (I love being able to communicate with the patient without needing an interpreter - many patients only speak Arabic in Qatar). The patient did have intriguing neurological findings, but this is not the reason patient left a mark in me!
This middle-age gentleman was my first patient with cancer who had gone through intense chemo and radiotherapy over the last fourteen months. The gentleman told me his story with passion and emotion that I had tears in my eyes that were on the verge of bursting as I saw how he felt he is a warrior battling his disease. When I asked the gentleman if he had any family in Qatar, he replied saying that the doctors, nurses, and social workers are his second family that have supported him in fighting his cancer. He is blessed to have been working in a country that strives to provide medical care to any resident of Qatar without looking at their social status, especially since he could not have afforded this quality of health-care and chemotherapy. He is fighting metastatic renal cell carcinoma, which is known to have a relatively poor five-year prognosis.
After completing my examination and closing up with the patient, he wrote my name down in his diary and said that he will make sure to include me in his prayers as I strive to become a healer one day.
I admired this gentleman for his strength, will-power, and practical optimism towards fighting , cancer and acknowledging his blessings in life. Even though his family and children live across the sea, he fills that void with the "family" he has in Doha without complaining.
When we are faced with little challenges and all we do is complain and complain and complain about the little "hardship" we are faced with in life. Hence, I walked out of that room thinking I should appreciate everything I have and stop complaining about my neurology write-ups! :P
