Saturday, July 12, 2008

1 Year at the BCC

It’s been a year since I started working at the UCSF Breast Care Center. What a learning experience. I thought I would reflect on some of the highlights of the year in some upcoming blog posts.

Most rewarding has been working with patients to help them get the most out of their appointments with physicians. It’s so rewarding to me for two reasons, firstly, I see how incredibly helpful the exercise is for the patient, for understanding their disease, for thinking about what they value the most, for thinking about how they want to make the decisions they are faced with. Being able to help women have piece of mind about the decisions they make, helping them understand their cancer and come to grip with having a cancer in their body, is such a great thing to be able to offer, I am so happy I’ve been help them with this process. To be helpful to another human being, another family is such an awesome ability.

Secondly, this experience has been so personally rewarding for me. Through these women I have heard so many of their stories, hearing how breast cancer has affected their lives and relationships, but also hearing how they are persevering and coping. The diversity, the uniqueness, of the women I’ve worked with has really opened my eyes in ways I am very thankful for. I’ve been confronted with my own stereotypes and ignorance, and I am so thankful for this. I think my perspective has been widened immensely and I hope it continues to be widened as I know I am not perfect, nor do I perfectly understand other’s lives. At least I am at the point where I am beginning to realize this.

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