Linguistic Erosion

Contributor: Victoria Elizabeth Ann - - Palliative care. She read it again. That couldn’t be right. Patient is receiving palliative care. Terminal renal cancer. Metastasized. Lymphatic system. The words jumped off of the page. Her father’s cancer was far worse than he had admitted. He had entered the final moments of his life and it was a surprise. Last winter, he called her at the start of her final semester in college. He let her know of the diagnosis, assuring her that they had caught it early, it could be easily treated, and that she shouldn’t worry about him. Focus on her life. Enjoy her last few months before the “real world” roared into focus. “Michelle,” he had chastised her, “This is the spring of your life. Everything is open and blossoming for you. Don’t waste it worrying about me. Enjoy the last bloom of your adolescence...

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