Eyes say more than we think

Eyes say more than we think It's finally summer and I've finished my third year of medical school, so I am going to have long and carefree holidays. This made wonder about how patients feel during their holidays and whether they can stop thinking about their illness just for a while. From my experience I would say NO; they think about it even more, but what can be done about it? I remember when holidays were getting closer my dad and I were very excited, but my mum who was dealing with breast cancer wasn't. She wasn't able to stay long in the sun because of her radiation therapy, she had problems with her implant, and all together she couldn't enjoy herself. I remember how I would tell her: " Mum, you are so brave, I would never be able to fall asleep with the knowledge of having something inside me, especially cancer. " What happens when a patient like my mum goes on holi-days? Although I can say that she was doing well in general , I remember that summer was the time I saw her crying the most. She would say that she has to do something that would drag her thoughts from cancer, from doctors, from therapy, and most of all from the idea of her future life, when these therapies will stop and how long she is going to live. Although death is a part of everyone's life and no one knows how long one is going to live, oncology patients think about such things even more. This year, I had a course called Psychological Medicine, at which we also learned how to approach and prepare not only patients, but also their families, for their long and tiresome journey to cure. Martin H. Fischer said: " Disease is somatic, suffering because of it is mental. " This quote says how important it is to have a whole team of doctors to guide such patients, their families, and friends. My mum had one million questions for her oncologist about the therapy, about how she is doing, whether there were some newer and better medicines, but also she had one million thoughts that she wanted to share with some psychiatrist. She was afraid about my future (I was only 11 when her breast cancer was diagnosed), she was dealing with problems that go with therapy (hair loss, radical …