Up Close and Personal
Health care professionals balance sorrow and joy in caring for cancer patients
By Damaris Christensen
Illustrations by Anthony Russo
CR | Page No. 24 | Summer 2009
Many doctors and nurses express
surprise—and even frustration—
that when they tell people
about their jobs, the immediate
response is, “That must be really
hard.” In fact, those who work
most closely and most regularly
with cancer patients often
characterize their career as a
“calling,” and say it is fulfilling,
meaningful and often full of joy.
“For every tear I’ve cried, I
laugh just as hard,” says pediatric
oncology nurse Cory Murrah of
St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer
Center in Memphis, Tenn. Patients
and family members don’t always
want to be at the hospital,
according to Murrah, and she
finds purpose and joy in easing
their load—whether with medical
information, painkillers, bringing
a Coke, or helping with a family’s
laundry. “I feel like God’s
calling me to be here,” Murrah
says. “I can’t imagine being
anywhere else.”
People who work closely with
those who have cancer, and their
families, have “this incredible
opportunity to be so intertwined
with someone’s life at very
vulnerable times,” says Teresa
Gilewski, a medical oncologist at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center in New York City. “It’s a big
responsibility and a privilege.” She
views her work as “an incredible
opportunity to help people by
merging scientific knowledge and
compassion.”
Many doctors emphasize that
their career keeps them balanced,
incorporating the fast-moving
world of science and personal
interactions with patients and
families. “Oncology was perfect for
me,” says Samuel Whiting of the
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, who
treats gastrointestinal cancers. “It
has all the relationships of primary
care and all the intellectual
questions of science wrapped up
in one field.”
Doctors and nurses alike
say that developing long-term
relationships with patients
they see for years is one of
the most fulfilling aspects of
their work. Positive feedback
about those relationships might
come immediately, through a
hug of welcome or hearing that
a patient got information he
needed, but also might come
later, by seeing photos of kids or
grandchildren or receiving notes
of thanks from family members
after a patient’s death.
