I knew her briefly, but miss her presence already. What a palliative EM doctor taught me about compassion.
Before you begin reading, open your music player and play a Vance Joy song (We’re going home is my favourite). This is for you Barb.
October 5th was a happy day for my college roommate and his lovely bride to be. Myself along with a number of close friends and family were delighted to join in on the festivities as groomsmen and bridesmaids. Let me tell you, we did not disappoint by bringing an energy that I didn’t experience since my own wedding.
Then I saw her for only the third time but this time dressed to impress with a wig and all that only a woman of her calibre could pull off with grace and elegance. She had light makeup on which to me personally, exemplified a person comfortable with their natural beauty.
I never asked Dr. Barbara Tatham about her condition. As a health practitioner myself I try my very best to treat the person and not the disease. But that didn’t mean the doctor in me wasn’t at least curious why such a kind soul was suffering the way she was even though she showed no signs of it until she removed her wig. She looked healthy on the outside but any physician who has experience with a brutal disease knows just how much the person is suffering on the inside. I never got the sense she was…
