You don’t know what your patient’s end-of-life wishes are
As I walked in the room, I noticed it immediately: Norman was worse. The recurrent invasive cancer in his neck was impairing the drainage of fluid from his face making it difficult for him to turn his head, and it had progressed overnight. Despite his alarming appearance, he seemed calm.
There were no more cancer-specific treatment options: the surgeons had declined to operate again; he had received maximum dose radiation; and …
