My Sister's Keeper

Today was my last day of my pediatric blood and cancer rotation. Dumb me decides to watch My Sister's Keeper tonight. I won't even go into how I didn't like how different the ending was from the book.

Having read the book, I knew the context of the movie.  I knew it was about a girl with cancer.  I knew it would make me cry.  I never realized I'd be thinking about a patient the whole way through the movie.

Unfortunately, any cancer patient can take a turn for the worst, but there are definitely some who have bad prognoses at the beginning.  Four weeks ago I met a patient who's prognosis is death.  With the treatments we have now, we know we can't cure it.  We've kept the tumor small enough with chemo that he's been able to spend time being a kid and being with his family.  I saw him in clinic at least once every week I was there.  I know he's going to die.  I learned about his family.  I got to know his mom a little.  I saw a picture of him before he started his cancer drugs.  I've seen him progress.  I worry how much longer he has.  I thought about him the whole time I watched My Sister's Keeper tonight.  I couldn't leave the pain and sadness in Hollywood.  Kate wasn't a character in a movie, she was a patient I helped treat this month.  She was real.  Cancer is real.  Death is real.