Sharing

A patient made me cry today.

Not that she meant to. But nonetheless it happened.

I was seeing her for Graves' disease. And when we went over her family and social history, she disclosed that she is a widow, at the young age of 35.

I was taken aback, especially hearing that she has 2 young girls, which only made me think of my kids. And so she shared her story of how her late husband, a firefighter, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in the prime of his life. How, knowing the odds, in his last few months he made an effort to ensure his kids will forever remember him long after he's gone. She talked about the things they did. How, 2 years later his girls still remember him whenever they see a butterfly.

Somehow, we went on to talk about losses. And knowing I had a cancellation after her and was not rushed for time, shared my story of Buddy.

And we talked about love, life, coping. And I couldn't help but imagine how things would be if I suddenly left this world and my wife and girls.

And while she talked about her loss but yet how they try to remember her late husband, at one point she started to tear up, and the tears came rolling down. And unexpectedly, my tears came right out too.

We were both a bit embarassed when I grabbed the box of Kleenex and we both took a couple.

But sometimes, it's unexpected but yet beautiful when patients share these touching stories with me.