As an oncologist who often works with patients walking the thin line between life and death, I am always humbled by working in the clinic. It’s where I constantly realize that my troubles are incomparable to the pain that my patients experience. However, the more I am humbled, the more I discover there is to learn. The more I learn about humility, the more I look forward to growth.
Among my patients is a middle-aged woman with lung cancer who has the epidermal growth factor receptor, or EGFR, mutation and no history of smoking. Cases like these generally have a good prognosis, as patients tend to respond well to targeted therapy. However, this patient was not responding to any of the therapies prescribed to her. Eventually, she took part in a clinical trial involving an antibody-drug conjugate targeting the EGFR mutation but unfortunately still failed to respond and was hospitalized. My team and I were worried for the patient, who seemed to be disappointed and tired from going through five therapies.
After talking with the patient, we decided to try one last combination of immunotherapies and chemotherapy reagents before she left for the hospice. The probability of this therapy working was very low, but I prayed for a good outcome regardless. When I saw her the week following her first treatment cycle, I was blown away by her improved condition. She no longer had difficulty breathing, and even more surprising, the subcutaneous tumor that was present on her chest was completely gone. My team and I reveled in the happy news our patient brought us, all our exhaustion melting away.
