I was on my medicine rotation when a man, a Chinese immigrant, came in from my hometown, Altoona. He had a history of hepatitis and had severely jaundiced skin. It was determined that he had a dangerous form of cancer that results from hepatitis. He had a very, very poor prognosis. The first challenge was to find an oncologist who spoke Mandarin.
After my rotation was done, he and his family went back to Altoona. I went home shortly after that and went to visit to see how he was doing. I actually saw him the day before he died. I’m still in touch with the family—I mean, it was really hard to see them lose a loved one. A year earlier, I had this distance–thinking about the pathology of certain liver cells. It’s totally different to try to find hospice care for a patient or trying to work with the Chinese Consulate to arrange for the mother’s mother to immigrate from China to take care of the family, or talking to a four year old about disease. The whole experience was good for me, difficult for me but good for me.
