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Author: Laura Lambert, MD, FACS
Dear patients, families, and friends,
As a surgical oncologist with a clinical practice focusing on the management of advanced cancers that have spread through the abdominal cavity, I have come to better understand the true meaning of the capacity to heal and necessity of hope – both for the body and the spirit.
As a surgeon, I treat the effects of cancer on the body. When deciding if it is safe for a person to have surgery, one of the most important factors is their nutritional status – specifically their protein levels. Protein is the glue that holds us together and is essential for wound healing. Once surgery is over, we rely on the body’s amazing physical capacity to heal. If all goes well, the surgeon’s role is largely relegated to supporting the body by providing intravenous fluids, pain medications, and some antibiotics. To witness this process repeated is truly awe-inspiring.
“As amazing as it has been to witness the process of physical healing, it has been even more awesome to witness the power of hope heal a wounded spirit.”
—Dr. Lambert
But cancer affects more than the body. It can also affect the spirit. And while we do not have “surgery” for the spirit, it also possesses an amazing capacity to heal—even when facing a cancer that may not be “fixable”. Just as the body needs protein to heal from surgery, the spirit needs hope. As one of my patients insightfully told me—“Hope is like oxygen. You cannot live without it.”
But often it is not easy to find hope when dealing with cancer, especially when it precludes a return to “normal life.” Sometimes a little more time with family or meeting an unmet goal is not possible. How does the spirit find hope, the protein of the soul, in this unfixable setting?
“Hope is like oxygen.
You cannot live without it.”
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Just as the surgeon supports the physical needs of the body, bearing witness to loss and sharing grief can support someone’s spirit and provide hope in the midst of darkness. As amazing as it has been to witness the process of physical healing, it has been even more awesome to witness the power of hope heal a wounded spirit, to see people find great meaning and even joy, through some of the hardest challenges.
My desire for you is that you will be blessed with people in your life—family, friends, health care providers, even strangers—who you can share your grief with and that your spirit be healed with hope.
With much love,
Laura Lambert, MD, FACS
Professor, Department of Surgery
Division of Surgical Oncology
Our doctors and researchers are sharing hope with patients and their loved ones. Read more Letters of Hope.