Maggie's Farm

Telling a young, seemingly healthy patient that they have terminal cancer

Every physician has had to do this hundreds of times, but Dr. Bob wrote it down. "How do you deliver a death sentence?" Dr. Bob explains how he does it. I wish I had written this piece, but Bob did it better than I could have done. The saddest part is always trying to find a way to offer hope, when you know that, statistically, there is none. We sometimes feel like liars, but we need to believe in the power of hope and prayer, despite the terrifying inevitability of the truth of the numbers. There's a lot more to being a doctor than playing golf, folks. Trust me.