Damane Zehra is a radiation oncology resident in Pakistan.
I had been trying to write this story for a long time. The topic is so heavy that it took a great deal of courage and emotional strength to finally put it into words. This story is not about a patient; rather, it is about a caregiver.
I met Mrs. N. in 2020. She travelled from Gujranwala to Islamabad (a distance of 223 kilometers) to begin her treatment. Mrs. N. was …
This is not a detailed story like the ones I usually write. It’s just a little breeze of warmth that touched my soul and heart, and I wanted to share it with you.
I had been so overwhelmed over the past weeks, taking care of so many patients for months and staying in a place where there was no one to listen to me. In fact, I was the only listener …
In the quiet moments of illness, I witness love and loss unfold.
I usually place the beds of relatively sick patients closest to my workstation. While I can monitor all the patients, except for a few female beds behind curtains, this arrangement helps me keep a closer eye on those who are more ill, particularly those receiving chemotherapy.
Directly in front of my counter lies a 50-year-old gentleman recently diagnosed with primary …
I like quails. They resemble sparrows but are slightly larger. Quails are relatively quiet and easy to keep since they cannot fly much, unlike sparrows. They have a good lifespan as well. Since childhood, I have raised many quails, and I currently have two that I bought in 2023.
The quails have aged significantly, and the male has plucked many feathers from the female’s body. As a result, there are bald …
I remember a night during my first year of residency in oncology when I was on call. It was after midnight, and I was sitting at the ward counter.
I often struggle to sleep during night shifts, especially when I’m the only doctor on call. I prefer to stay at the counter because I dread the thought of some terrible thing happening and not being able to reach the ward in …
I have never been outside my hospital since I joined two months ago.
As the only doctor in the oncology department, I cannot take the time to roam around the hospital. My duty hours are filled with chemotherapy treatments and the continuous monitoring of sick patients.
The hospital where I work is affiliated with a private medical college. On Saturdays and Sundays, the students have a holiday. It was a Saturday, and …
I was working in my oncology ward as usual when I received a call from the medical ICU to evaluate a patient. The patient was a young male who had been admitted a few days earlier with severe respiratory distress. His workup raised suspicion of a possible malignancy (cancer). This was the information provided to me by the doctor in the ICU.
When I entered the ICU, I met a young …
As a child, I was an introvert. Due to various circumstances, I didn’t have the opportunity to play any sports.
On many days, I see young children playing football or cricket in the large cricket park in front of my home. Various trainers from different sports clubs bring their teams of girls and boys to play football. They do stretches and warm-up runs, and I watch them from a distance.
I stop …
When I was unemployed, I applied for countless positions. For months, I have been waiting for a call letter regarding a test or an interview. Now that I have accepted a job at a hospital located far away, I receive call letters in the mail almost every day. This makes me uncomfortable because I know that, being new in my position, I cannot take time off for any test or …
“What did you have for breakfast today?”
This phrase is a crucial part of my morning rounds.
While interacting with the patient, the greeting is very important. I believe doctors who approach the bedside without introducing themselves and who immediately ask about the patient’s active complaint tend to come across as less compassionate (whatever their actual intentions might be). This can hinder the development of the bond necessary for obtaining a complete …
I am currently working as a senior registrar in the oncology unit of a trust hospital. We admit both oncology and hematology patients in the same ward, meaning we care for patients with solid tumors as well as those with blood cancers. Our hospital has only one oncology ward, which has ten beds. Since it is a trust hospital, most treatments are provided completely free of charge. I love working …
One of my friends from school studied with me in 9th grade. She was exceptionally pretty, the kind of beauty that stood out. She was the only daughter and had a younger brother. She got married at a relatively young age and had one son. After her marriage, she moved to another city. She lived in a joint family and had many responsibilities, managing a lot of issues on her …
I absolutely hate prescribing medication to children.
I am quite worried when someone asks for my opinion on a sick child. I have some experience treating children during my internship and residency, yet I am pretty uncomfortable.
However, living in a lower middle-income country, where the average man already lives a difficult life due to high health care costs and limited income, health expenditure significantly impacts monthly finances. That is why people …
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Social media is an incredible tool for staying connected with loved ones and the world. But sometimes, I wonder, are we truly connected? Or is this connection merely an illusion?
I was addicted to social media. I believe this addiction began in 2012, during my first year of medical school. That’s when I asked my father to install an internet connection, claiming it was just for study purposes. It’s a common …
A few days ago, a teacher of mine who taught me Urdu in school contacted me after years. I remember her well; she was a very kind lady who cared for me a lot. I was one of her favorite students. At that time, she was married and had a daughter who was a toddler.
During a phone call, she told me that she had been experiencing a high-grade …
I have felt anxious for most of my life.
Born into a poor family, my main goal has always been to become independent enough to support myself without needing to ask anyone for money to meet my basic necessities.
I witnessed my father frequently asking others for help whenever he faced significant challenges that his limited salary could not cover. For instance, he would reach out to people when it came time …
I had two bunnies over a year ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a proper environment for them, just a large cage in the courtyard. During the day, they would roam freely, and I would lock them in the cage at night for their safety.
They were very dear to me. I talked to them, cuddled them, and let them eat whatever I ate. They loved eating from my hands. …
I’m only sharing this story today to illustrate something about myself and my perspective on love: being expressive with it.
I am not discussing only romantic love here. I’m talking about the affection we have for so many individuals around us, including our parents, siblings, friends, teachers, coworkers, neighbors, pets, and even strangers.
Sometimes we fall in love with a random person’s actions, something they say, the way …
M has always been very close to me. She joined our hospital’s oncology department over ten years ago as a radiation technologist. Currently, she works as a medical physicist in our department and is the only female physicist in our hospital.
Her presence here is not due to luck or extraordinary circumstances; she has dedicated immense effort to her career. While many of her peers in the same position remain in …
I was leaving the mall after purchasing a gift for a friend. Her birthday was the next day, and after spending hours searching for the perfect present, I finally bought an expensive wallet that I was sure she would love.
It was a chilly evening, and as soon as I left the mall, I immediately felt the real intensity of the cold. The heating system inside the mall had masked the …
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