May 30th, 2019
Today, I got to spend a lot of time with one of Dr. Graham’s scribes named Dakota. He graduated from Duke with a Bachelors in Chemistry and took a gap year to work as a scribe for Dr. Graham as a way of gaining more exposure in the field of oncology before he applies for medical school. Dakota told me that his experience as a scribe for Dr. Graham has cemented his interest in oncology and is the reason why he plans to specialize in this field. It was great talking to him and gathering new perspectives on the route to becoming a doctor.
Throughout the day, I would shadow Dr. Graham, like I had the past couple of days, as he met with his patients. Most of Dr. Graham’s patients were here for their routine check-up to monitor the status of their cancer treatment. His patients were always so happy to see him, as he was greeted with warm smiles. Dr. Graham would discuss the reports with them, priding them for their continued effort, and giving them comfort that their cancer would soon be eradicated.
But today, I was exposed to something I had never seen before in my life. Dr. Graham walked into one of the rooms where a patient and her husband were patiently waiting. The lady stood up immediately and stretched out her arms and locked them around Dr. Graham’s waist as she gave him a tender hug. Dr. Graham pulled up a chair and sat next to them to discuss her report. I watched their conversation and held a smile on my face as Dr. Graham begin to dissect her report. As his eyes scanned through the report, a troubled looked appeared on his face. The results that had come in were not good. Her tumor was continuing to grow despite the medication/treatment Dr. Graham had prescribed. I glanced over at the lady and found that tears were forming in her eyes as she had just come to terms with reality. Dr. Graham told Dakota and me to step out of the room. We waited outside and exchanged some glances, waiting patiently for Dr. Graham to come out and give us an update I remember a crack appearing in the door as Dr. Graham stepped out. His eyes too were watery as he ignored us and headed to the bathroom. I don’t know what exactly was discussed in the room, but I was taken back from everything I had seen as I began to digest what I had just heard. This was what I had never experienced before. The emotional impact of cancer. It saddened my heart as I tried to imagine what could have possibly been discussed in the room. Dr. Graham came back to us having freshened up a little and told us about his history with the patient. She had been with Dr. Graham for the past 10 years battling breast cancer and now liver cancer. He began to tear up more discussing this with us and sniffly said, “We’ve tried the best we can”. I didn’t say a single word to him and neither did Dakota as we both saw the other side of this acclaimed doctor. The human side of this accomplished individual. All of his successes in his 45 years in the field of oncology, vanished, because of one harsh truth. Life isn’t fair.
I don’t want to end this blog on a sad note, so…. later that day after all of this had settled, we celebrated Dakota’s one year at the clinic. Dakota will be leaving and going back to his lab at Duke to do research while he applies to medical school. I wish Dakota the very best in his future endeavors.
