MIND. My Take On Miracles.

My first cancer patient has come into my practice. He is the nicest older man. Still a pep in his step for being in his late 80s with the most can-do attitude. “Something new to learn from life,” he says about the scenario. His daughter comes to all of his appointments, too (she’s lost her husband to cancer).

It’s esophageal, stage IV. I don’t think you have to be a doctor to know that’s not good.

He’s doing the suggested chemo regimen, but they’ve come to for adjunctive management. How to enhance its effects but blunt the treacherous side effects (or known, but undesired effects as one professor said about the term “side effects” in school). They want to throw everything at it. And I am here as not only witness to their journey, but as doctor, too.

We had a discussion the other day about hope. A quote came to me that my first year philosophy teacher said in class, “There is no such thing as an evidenced-based miracle.” That really struck me. We have thousands and thousands of research papers trying to figure out the mechanisms, the biological minutaie to improve technology, outcomes, lifespans. Yet, miracles are a reminder that we really don’t know how it all works. We don’t know why it happened, or how it could have happened. But it does.

And while I do practice evidenced-based medicine, I believe in miracles, too.