One of my patients has a horrible cancer. He lives alone and has no family. His neighbors have worked together to help him get to his chemotherapy and his radiation treatments, have stayed with him day and night to suction his tracheotomy tube and to ensure that his tube feeds ran. When he could no longer work, they helped with his rent. They did this out of love and caring.
His tumor is not responding and he does not have long to live. He is not rich in money, but he is the richest man I know for I judge a man by his friends and neighbors. He started Hospice today with his neighbors by his side. They will not leave him or let him face death alone. May we all be so rich.
His tumor is not responding and he does not have long to live. He is not rich in money, but he is the richest man I know for I judge a man by his friends and neighbors. He started Hospice today with his neighbors by his side. They will not leave him or let him face death alone. May we all be so rich.
2 comments:
I am so sorry Throckmorton. I know in the past you have expressed how difficult it is to lose a patient.
And I am sorry for your patient.
His friends and neighbors sound like wonderful people and no doubt he was a terrific guy to have evoked such a dedicated and compassionate response in them.
Hospice is such a good program.
I am so glad I got to be with my uncle Jim the last 3 days of his life.
The fact they helped with his rent is awesome. Boy that says a lot about them.
You said "He is not rich in money, but he is the richest man I know for I judge a man by his friends and neighbors." That reminds me of my favorite movie "It's a Wonderful Life" because remember at the end... George realizes it doesn't matter how much money he owes because he has friends and family that love him. And they loved him so much that they were willing to sacrifice to help him.
May we all be so rich...indeed.
Thank you for sharing this thoughtful post. :)
I also like that movie because it shows the value that each of us has as human beings and we never know how we might effect someone's life... hopefully for the better.
I am intrigued by how circumstances in life play out... how we all connect to each other, impact each other, etc.
It would be interesting to have an angel show us how we made a difference for the better in people's lives and what would happen if we had never been born.
So it is refreshing to hear of people giving their all and sacrificing for another human being.
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