Renz Francis D.

Sasa MED ETHICS

2015-70125 April 4, 2018

Finding Meaning in Sickness and Suffering

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consecteteur”, there is no one who loves pain and suffering
by itself. Also, suffering and pain by itself is not sanctifying or profiting hence, no one deserves to
be judged as “buti nga”; “ang martyr mo kasi”; “pinili mo yan eh”. I believe “suffering” is an
awareness of pain in times of crisis and hardship. I myself had suffered from such and many times
I felt hopeless and sad. However, what must be noted or important as physicians/carers is that
we should be aware that every person has his or her own suffering and that there is a threshold
for suffering. No two people are equally sensitive. As “carers”, we should not belittle or take other’s
suffering for granted because of the simple fact that some people have a lower and some have
higher threshold of suffering. Personally, I’ve experienced this from my friends and loved ones
whenever I have problems, some say “Asus, yan lang, Ikaw pa ba?”; “Itulog mo lang yan okay na
yan”; “Sus, buti ka nga yan lang problema mo.” and it is truly sad to hear such belittling remarks
from the people you expected to comfort you in these times. As physician, it is our duty as “carers”
to sincerely cater the concerns of our patient how small it is. We shouldn’t minimize others
problems for example “kaya ka hypertensive kasi ang taba mo. Magdiet ka lang”. Instead we
should be sensitive in our encounters with our patients as we don’t know “how much more” this
person can take. We should always see others suffer much more than us.

It is also for a fact that we, medical students, practitioners has/his or her own pain; and in
such times it is not forbidden to seek help. As we cope and fight our struggles in our career,
relationships, daily lives, we should use this to grow and strengthen our faith. We should never
be afraid to seek help from our friends, colleagues and family as social support is vital in healing.
Also, suffering: our readings, backlogs we must fulfill, passing grades/scores we must get,
problems we face alongside with our studies, we can cope up from this by shifting our perspective
by valuing good things and counting our blessings more rather than listing the anxiety and stress
we get from med school. Lastly, according to Fr. Gaston, “daily prayers will lead us to direct our
lives, and to yield a hundred fold”, we should never forget our faith and beliefs in times of grief
and crisis. Most of the times we often ask God “why me?” but I believe that suffering is more
sanctifying if we accept it and use it to reaffirm our faith and strengthen our spiritual connection
with God. Surely, we will experience more suffering in this life, but we can use this as an
opportunity to turn suffering into personal and spiritual development. Suffering drives change and
thriving, improving and flourishing ourselves in difficult times is how we “find meaning in suffering.”

Another concept explained by Fr. Gaston is about sacrifice. From the old testament,
sacrifice often means to burn, or to set it aside for God as an offering; given this sacrifice (from
its oldest definition/roots) is an act of giving up something valued, an act of offering for something
more important or worthy. The practice of medicine is full of “sacrifices”. Caring entails sacrifice.
Caring entails giving your time, attention, life-long skills, effort for our patient’s improvement. Such
is difficult and painful, but it is the highest form of giving. Sacrifice accompanied by responsibility,
respect of human dignity, faith and love forms the totality of caring (Lanara, 2014). Another is that
medicine encompasses the true meaning of sacrifice, because becoming a doctor require years
of training, discipline and self-sacrifice. Being a doctor means, missing most of the important
celebrations, sacrificing your sleep and leisure and giving up a bulk of your time that supposed to
be spent with your loved ones to save lives and heal people. Being a physician is not simple, one
must possess genuine love for human dignity and altruism.
Renz Francis D. Sasa MED ETHICS
2015-70125 April 4, 2018

Comforting the Dying

Every beginning has an end, and death is the end of the life and journey in earth given by
our Creator. Death may come suddenly or may linger as a person gradually fails. But for everyone,
death is inevitable, and each loss is personally felt by those close to the one who has died. Soon
as physicians, we will encounter death and it is important that we are equipped and
knowledgeable with death and how we can provide the best quality of life for the patient until the
end. The lives of our patient must be handled with grace and dignity and it is our duty as
physician’s to provide our patients with a “good death”.

A “good death” mean something different for every individual. Some may want adequate
preparation for death so he/she may have few last word with his or her loved ones, some may
want to die quickly, some may want to die at home with his/her family and some may opt to be in
the hospital where he/she can receive treatment for his or her illness until the very end. People
who are dying generally needs physical comfort (from pain), management of mental and
emotional distress, finding his/her spiritual or emotional sense of completion and needs adequate
preparation for death, both for the patient and loved ones. It is our duty as physician to provide
this end-of-life care and promote the patient’s well-being.

As physicians and servants of God, it is also our desire in accordance to the 7th sacrament,
“anointing of the sick”, to provide spiritual support to dying patients. For us Christians, giving the
love of Jesus Christ can help to make sense of our suffering, gives us hope in times of our
weakness and vulnerabilities. As physicians, we are given a mission, to reach out to the sick with
compassion and tenderness, by holding them, comforting them and filling each day with love. And
as Christian doctors, according to Fr. Gaston, we as well “should never lose hope in God, Our
mission is to give hope to others”. We are bestowed an important gift, the gift of healing and death
and we must strengthen our faith with God to truly fulfil our mission.

“With death, life is transformed, not ended”. Death give us an opportunity to be with our
creator. And for this to be possible, we should repent for our sins, love others and forgive those
who do not love us. We are given the gift of heaven. It is available to all those who believe in Him.
It is a supernatural place of existence with unlimited power, grace, love, peace, joy, and safety.

Death is not God’s desire; it’s the result of self-condemnation (Romans 3:23; 6:23). The
Lord did not create the human race and give them a freedom of choice just to watch them die in
suffering and pain. The Lord created human beings for Him to have a loving, communal
relationship during their time on earth and for eternity. When we have a personal relationship with
God, we should have faith that with death, our spirit is united with God our creator in heavenly
peace.

The knowledge and moment of death can be very uncomfortable both to the patient and
to his/her loved ones but we should remember that as physicians, it is our duty to provide
continuous skilled care to bring physical, mental and emotional comfort to the patient, provide an
environment with privacy and intimacy and provide spiritual support to help him be reunited with
our Creator.