"Write Your Best Chapter"

We do not want to get older. There are so many birthday cards making fun of getting older. We become despondent when as we get older, we become slower at life. As runners, we run slower. Our eyesight starts to go. Our hair turns gray. Our body starts turning into a shape of its own. I want you to know that aging is a privilege. We will talk about how we should not regret getting older. It's a privilege denies to many.

We do not want to get older. There are so many birthday cards making fun of getting older. We become despondent when as we get older, we become slower at life. As runners, we run slower. Our eyesight starts to go. Our hair turns gray. Our body starts turning into a shape of its own. I want you to know that aging is a privilege. We will talk about how we should not regret getting older. It's a privilege denies to many. 

As palliative care physicians, we know how to hold space. In this episode, I will talk to you how it feels to hold space. I also talk about how it feels to be on the receiving end of when someone holds space for you. As physicians, it is our duty to know how to deliver difficult messages or have hard conversations.

As palliative care physicians, we know how to hold space. In this episode, I will talk to you how it feels to hold space. I also talk about how it feels to be on the receiving end of when someone holds space for you. As physicians, it is our duty to know how to deliver difficult messages or have hard conversations. 

When I started talking to friends about starting a podcast, they all wanted to know one thing: who is my audience? Was I talking to physicians or was my goal to reach patients? It is a difficult question. The truth is I believe if you are going to be struck with an illness in your life time, and you may die because of it, you should listen. I want to normalize conversation about life and death. I want to empower all of us to ask the right questions to get the right care. We explore what that really means.

When I started talking to friends about starting a podcast, they all wanted to know one thing: who is my audience? Was I talking to physicians or was my goal to reach patients? It is a difficult question. The truth is I believe if you are going to be struck with an illness in your life time, and you may die because of it, you should listen. I want to normalize conversation about life and death. I want to empower all of us to ask the right questions to get the right care. We explore what that really means.

Hope cannot possibly be inherently bad. In an earlier episode, we talked about how 'Hope is not a plan'. But, is there anything else we could hope for? In times of serious illness, are we hoping for the wrong things? If we are putting all of our energy for fighting a battle we cannot win (Death), are there other hopes that can add life to our living days? How to ask questions so we can get to those answers.

Hope cannot possibly be inherently bad. In an earlier episode, we talked about how 'Hope is not a plan'. But, is there anything else we could hope for?  In times of serious illness, are we hoping for the wrong things? If we are putting all of our energy for fighting a battle we cannot win (Death), are there other hopes that can add life to our living days? How to ask questions so we can get to those answers. 

How do you talk with patients when the stakes are high? Can you establish trust with the patient, without taking away their hope, and aligning their wishes and goals with the medical treatment options we offer?

In this episode, we will talk about how the words we choose to communicate with patients allow us to have more meaningful conversations such that both parties get the best outcome possible. Patients empowered to make meaningful decisions and physician being able to deliver bad news without feeling overwhelmed or a sense of abandoning their patient.