Reflections on Medicine & Life
My wife Uzma’s first treatment for Stage 4 breast cancer was an oral drug — a medication to take by mouth every day at home. It cost over $10,000 a month. Uzma’s cancer was slow-growing but relentless. It would respond
Yesterday, a phone call from a surgeon reminded me how much I will miss Uzma’s gut feeling about people. And it taught me how little it can sometimes take to break stereotypes. Before I recount the tale, I want to
My wife Uzma died peacefully at home. She hadn’t taken any painkillers for three days. Our kids, my parents, and I were next to her. In the weeks leading up to her death, she was visited by many old friends.
About one and a half years before she died, my wife Uzma, undergoing treatment for stage 4 breast cancer , started looking for an appointment with a palliative care physician close to home. She called a few different palliative care