{"id":137,"date":"2016-04-20T09:34:05","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T13:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/?p=137"},"modified":"2016-06-21T15:07:45","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T19:07:45","slug":"a-new-perspective-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/a-new-perspective-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Upon first arriving at the care center, I was a bit apprehensive. Although I had received training in how to interact with the patients, the idea of actually engaging a real patient face-to-face suddenly seemed rather daunting. After all, what could I really do that would make any difference in the life of someone at the end of their journey?
\nThese inhibitions changed as I got to know Mrs. Patel<\/em>. When I first walked into her room, I remember being shocked by her physical state; Mrs. Patel<\/em>\u2019s whole body was about 5 feet long, and her frame was so gaunt that I wouldn\u2019t have been surprised if you told me there was actually just a skeleton beneath the sheets. When she saw me, though, she looked past my apparent shock and greeted me like an old friend. As the weeks went by, I came to learn just how far my new friend had travelled to be here.
\nMrs. Patel<\/em> was born in southern India at the end of British rule, and she was fortunate enough to study comparative literature in secondary school. After marrying her husband, the couple moved to Nairobi to find work and have children of their own. There, Mrs. Patel<\/em> became a schoolteacher at a local elementary school for young Kenyans. Once her own kids were old enough for primary school, though, the Patel<\/em> family relocated yet again, this time to the heart of London. Mrs. Patel<\/em> remained there with her husband even after her kids began work in America, and it was only once her husband passed away that she moved to New Jersey. The steady decline of her health in recent years, however, had left her unable to care for herself, landing her in hospice care.
\nAs Mrs. Patel<\/em>\u2019s latest and perhaps last student, I have come to cherish one moment in particular. On a December afternoon, after an insightful discussion on the political history of the royal family, Mrs. Patel<\/em> paused. Recognizing that her mood had changed, I asked her what was wrong. She quickly explained that she had never feared death \u2013 that is, the end of life itself. Rather, she feared a painful death, one in which her last moments would be desperate and agonizing. All I could do was hold her hand, but somehow that seemed like enough.
\nI\u2019ve come to realize that Ascend exists to address Mrs. Patel<\/em>\u2019s fear. By volunteering with Ascend, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to receive the wisdom of another generation while offering the encouragement and hope that, as Mrs. Patel<\/em> often expressed, makes such a difference. The experience has also immersed me in some of the most vulnerable and meaningful patient interactions imaginable. As I continue to prepare for medical school, I am grateful for all Ascend has taught me about the beauty of life, the acceptance of death, and the ever-widening scope of medical care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upon first arriving at the care center, I was a bit apprehensive. Although I had received training in how to interact with the patients, the idea of actually engaging a real patient face-to-face suddenly seemed rather daunting. After all, what could I really do that would make any difference in the life of someone at … Continue reading “A New Perspective”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"school":[7],"program_year":[11],"class_list":["post-137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hospice","school-princeton","program_year-11"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253,"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions\/253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"school","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"program_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athenainstitute.com\/ahp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_year?post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}