Rukayya, Nigeria

I once cared for a woman with lung cancer stage |||, I met her when she came in for her chemotherapy, I took her vital signs, checked her investigations and cleared her for her course. The woman went on telling me how she had never smoked a cigarette in her life, neither does her husband and she had no family history as well, and broke down crying out loud telling me how her husband left her when she needed him the most, not to mention the financial challenges she is going through.Her story pulled me to tears and I immediately felt empathetic towards her, I had to beg her to calm down, reassured her that everything will be fine, gave her example of people who fought this and are living well.This is one of the many stories that made me realize I need to treat cancer patients with great empathy and compassion because they go through physical, emotional, psychological, financial challenges and the least we can do as healthcare workers is to always be there for them.