I last saw her 6 weeks ago in my clinic exam room. I told her that her kidney function was getting worse. It was time to start preparing for dialysis. Tears ran down her chubby cheeks.
what we could have done
The old woman died. I heard she slept more and more of the days away until one day she stopped talking and eating in the awake moments. Then her breathing slowed and her breaths shallowed until she stopped breathing altogether.
to be clear
how it’s always been done
Some time ago, I wrote about how I, being no Denzel Washington groupie, am unaffected by my Denzel doppelgänger. I am, on the other hand, an Atul Gawande groupie and metaphorically wriggle out of my panties every time I read his work.