“My own breath caught at the poignancy of the request. I remembered the first time I danced with my daughter, when she was only days old and I hugged her tight to my body, and the weddings we attended when she was the same age as my patient’s daughter. I would escort her to the dance floor as she carefully placed her pink sparkle shoes atop my staid black leather ones, while I raised and lowered them to the beat of the music. With the memory, I felt the gentle pressure of her weight on my toes.”
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy
Mikkael Sekeres, MD, MS, shares a heart-breaking interaction with a patient, and why sometimes what’s meaningful to patients matters more than medicine, in this New York Times column.
Dr. Sekeres is Director of Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center’s Leukemia Program.
Timing and type of side effects differ greatly from chemotherapy
Dedicated multidisciplinary teams support 84 ultra-rare cancers
Sessions explore treatment advances and multidisciplinary care
New research from Cleveland Clinic helps explain why these tumors are so refractory to treatment, and suggests new therapeutic avenues
Combination of olaparib and carboplatin results in complete durable response for a patient with BRCA2 and “BRCAness” mutations
Early communication between oncologists and ophthalmologist warranted
Case-based course delves into latest treatment approaches
Long-term relationship building and engagement key to gaining community trust