Learn about a book of quotes gathered by a compassionate oncologist from deep conversations with her patients.

My guest Dr. Christina Gomez is a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is the author of the book Stopped in My Tracks: A Physician’s Collection of Cancer Patients’ Quotes, which she discusses today. She shares her approach to talking with patients about difficult end of life issues, including referring them to palliative or Hospice care and the value of listening deeply to her patients. Learn more at her website:

christinagomezmd.com

Listen here:

This episode includes:

• Why Dr. Gomez started to collect the words of her cancer patients
• What it feels like to be the bearer of hard news for patients
• Honoring the patient’s choice for how much they want to know about their prognosis
• How quickly options are changing for novel cancer treatments and what constitutes “realistic hope”
• Why we need to bridge the divide between oncology and palliative care to ensure that patients can access all the care they need and want
• The gift of targeted therapies in prolonging life with cancer
• How Dr. Gomez avoids giving patients false hope and focuses on what is really possible
• Treating the whole person, not just the cancer and why no one “loses the battle”
• Learning about the present moment from patients
• The retreat Dr. Gomez is hosting October 11-12 for patients, providers, caregivers on the cancer journey

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Retreat – Stopped in My Tracks: A Weekend of Reflection and Healing – October 11-12, 2024
• Get EOLU Podcast Merch here
• Conversations on Death with ChatGPT – Audiobook here; Print Book here
• Leave me a message by email: [email protected], Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
• Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
• Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
• Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
• Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and receive free gifts like the “Mind if we talk about death?” mini-poster or Love Your Life sticker or coffee mug. PLUS get our regular bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, occasional movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
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If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to Sue Stuparek for buying me a coffee! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

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Karen Wyatt Karen Wyatt MD

Dr. Karen Wyatt is the bestselling author of the book 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying, which contains stories of patients she cared for as a hospice doctor and the spiritual lessons she learned from them at the end of their lives. Her other books include The Journey from Ego to Soul, Stories from the Dark Night, and The Tao of Death. Dr. Wyatt also hosts End-of-Life University Podcast, which features conversations with experts who work in all aspects of end-of-life care. She is widely regarded as a thought-leader in the effort to transform the way we care for our dying in the U.S. In addition, she is valued for her application of spiritual principles to illness and healthcare and teaches that in order to live life fully we must each overcome our fear of death and embrace the difficulties that life brings us.