Missing the Chance to Talk Openly with Dying Patients

In this essay appearing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dr. Bruce H. Campbell discusses his anxiety and apprehension discussing the conditions his terminally ill patient might encounter at the time of death. Although his patient, suffering from thyroid cancer, asks questions about how he will die, Dr. Campbell finds it difficult to directly address his concerns and is frustrated that he does not know how to handle the situation. An accompanying commentary by Drs. Timothy J. Moynihan, Charles F. von Gunten, addresses the missed opportunity Dr. Campbell had to reassure his patient. They explain how they would have handled the interaction:

We both wanted to be standing next to Dr Campbell in this scenario,to help with some possible responses. After the patient asked how he would die, Dr Campbell gently described how patients usually die, yet there was a missed opportunity. One of us might have said, "Tell us what you are most afraid of." Most junior faculty can’t imagine asking something like this, which seems to invite more anxiety and discomfort for both the patient and the doctor. In contrast, it is usually therapeutic because no one can reassure the patient until he knows what is really frightening him.

We expect the patient might have responded, "I don’t want to suffocate to death!" Or, "I don’t want to bleed to death!" "I don’t want my family to witness this." He might also have cried.

We would model being silent in the presence of the patient's distress, which conveys the message that we won’t run away even if the going gets tough. We would reach out, silently, to touch his arm. We would both be seated. When the patient stopped crying we would then say, "Many patients feel just like you do. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way. Would it help to talk about what might happen, and what we’d do so you won’t suffer? Some patients just want to be reassured that the doctor will manage things, but most are reassured by talking about their worst nightmares, and making a plan. How is it for you?"

If the patient wanted, we would discuss aggressive comfort measures, including aggressive sedation if something overwhelming happens. We would firmly tell him he won’t die feeling like he is suffocating. While we can’t control the cancer, we CAN control how he feels. We can also control the environment so his family and the nursing staff won’t be traumatized.

After the interaction, we’d join Dr Campbell in the hall with his colleagues and the nurses, and debrief the interaction in order to meet the team's personal self-care needs. We’d listen while they told us how uncomfortable they felt. We’d tell stories about similar situations when we felt helpless, and how we got to the place where we don’t feel that way anymore. We’d rehearse what to do in the case of worst scenarios, supervise the writing of the orders, and make sure the nurses knew what to do and whom to call . . .