Words

I met her at the main hospital. She had metastatic colorectal cancer and had received extensive chemotherapy. Her disease had progressed, and her options were rapidly diminishing. She was becoming thinner. I talked to her about palliative care and what the hospice had to offer. She agreed to come over to the inpatient hospice unit.

Later that week I saw her there. She was in a single room. She lay weakly. The bed covers seemed too big for her. Her mouth was dry. She spoke slowly. After discussing her symptoms I said that I thought her time was approaching. She said “Well … what can I say?” I asked her what was the hardest aspect of her illness. She replied: “Leaving my husband.”

I met Jack twice over the next days. On each …