Stephen J. Gould, a stubborn and reluctant statistician, was diagnosed with mesothelioma (a particularly serious kind of cancer). Despite the median mortality of eight months, he survived for the next 20 years and died of an unrelated illness. This resolution inspires many points of interest on the insufficient median and its fulfillment in frequency curves, the importance of graphs, and Stephen Gould’s remission. In Stephen Gould’s story the median is not the message. Instead, it should have been the shape of the frequency curve. Due to the asymmetrical nature of the frequency curve for mesothelioma, the median is not particularly helpful because it is biased and is inadequate at expressing the rest of the graph. The median is biased by a number of factors (such as age of the patient, time of diagnosis, etc.) that are not held consistent when collecting data on the mortality rates of patients with mesothelioma. These inconsistencies create a skewed frequency curve. Saying that the median mortality is eight months, would be more helpful if the frequency curve was bell-shaped. In that …show more content…
Graphically, would be a superior method since it would give patients a more comprehensive overview of their potentially imminent death. Allowing them to see that the right-hand whisker of a box-plot or the skewness of a frequency curve could potentially instill hope with a rather dismal diagnosis. Gould discusses the practicality of hope in medical diagnoses saying, “in general, those with positive attitudes, with a strong will and purpose for living...doctors say, tend to live longer.” By giving a patient this overview it would be easy to understand the gravity of their situation while still allowing for the practicality of hope. Therefore, more comprehensive statistics will give patients a better view on their potential life
… The doctors present agreed that there is no objective way of measuring or judging the claims of patients that their suffering is unbearable. And if it is difficult to measure suffering, how much more difficult to determine the value of a patient's statement that her life is not worth living?
This hope is particularly needed in cases where patients are not able to respond to standard treatment options.
Support of our patients, our colleagues and of our own practice through evidence based practice techniques and scientific fact can be the most comforting evidence in this particular change proposal as it supports the PICO question, “In terminally ill patients, does early admission into a hospice program, versus those who are admitted later, result in more effective pain control at the end of life?” The answer, based in evidence is yes.
If a situation came about where I was terminally ill and the doctors told me that I had just six months to live, I wouldn 't opt to end my life. This is probably because I’m young and I could desperately use those six months to see and do as much as I’d miss for the rest of my life. I’d ask that the doctor give me some medication for pain mediation, and then I’d scrape together whatever energy I had and I’d go travel and live what was left of my life. Even if I didn 't want to travel or I was bedridden, I’d still opt to live the time that I had left for the reasons that it would allow people who are close to me to spend time
...0’s cancer mortality rates have dramatically decreased from 10% to over 80% for leukemia. Overall decline in mortality for cancer was nearly 54% from 1978 to 2008 (National Cancer Institute, 2011). Decrease in mortality rates are due to improvements in cancer treatments. Recent advances in treatments are due to aggressive cancer therapies and collaboration of findings from clinical trials. More than 80 percent of patients are expected to be long term cancer survivors (National Cancer Institute, 2011).
With the high degree of variations in health care, patients can be under or over treated or even treated with the wrong treatment for their illness. These unwarranted care techniques can be categorized into three different situations. The first category of unwarranted care is the use of evidence or lack thereof, based on other medical care. The way to explain this category is that a care plan for a patient is proven effective without any proof as to why. The example given by Kongstvedt (2007) is the use of beta blockers post heart attack. Beta blockers prove to be effective in nearly one h...
When it comes to a bad diagnosis it is often difficult for doctors to tell their patients this devastating news. The doctor will likely hold back from telling the patient the whole truth about their health because they believe the patient will become depressed. However, Schwartz argues that telling the patient the whole truth about their illness will cause depression and anxiety, but rather telling the patient the whole truth will empower and motivate the patient to make the most of their days. Many doctors will often also prescribe or offer treatment that will likely not help their health, but the doctors do so to make patients feel as though their may be a solution to the problem as they are unaware to the limited number of days they may have left. In comparison, people who are aware there is no cure to their diagnosis and many choose to live their last days not in the hospital or pain free from medications without a treatment holding them back. They can choose to live their last days with their family and will have more time and awareness to handle a will. Schwartz argues the importance of telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and communicating the person’s likely amount of time left as it will affect how the patient chooses to live their limited
Duggleby et al. (2012), admits that there were limitations as the metasynthesis of the studies included the authors assumptions which is not actual data. In addition, the report admitted that the search results contained findings based on multiple fatal illnesses and the understanding of hope might be different if it had included people with non-fatal illnesses. Houser (2012) would consider this a threat to the internal validity as there is bias involved with the author’s assumptions and the selection of only people with fatal chronic illnesses. There was no indication of any ethical violations in the meta-synthesis review.
Pearsosn, H. (2013). Science and Intuition: Do both have a Place in Clinical Decision Making?
Isn’t it overwhelming to consider the fact that approximately one in eight deaths in the world are due to cancer? To make this more comprehensible, the number of deaths caused by cancer is greater than caused by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Along with the idea that this disease does not have a definite cure is a mind-staggering concept to grasp. If not caught in time, cancer means guaranteed death. These types of thoughts were floating around my head when my mother had told me that my father had mouth cancer.
In 2010, Keeley released a review that says if patient’s have a terminal illness, up to 88% will ex...
The primary reason why I’ve come to this view. Each patient diagnosed with a prolonged terminal illness has a unique response to their medical situation based on many factors such as; support
In the fifth (the last room for the grades) room in the school area on an artificial planet called Earth 2, a young boy named Tyler was sitting at his desk waiting for Mr. Dark to arrive. He was thinking about how they graduated over 100 years ago (before Earth was destroyed). Back then, students looked for a job or went to college after high school graduation. Now they had the Captain, Mr. Dark, choose their job at Graduation Day. Individual choice no longer existed.
...preference predictions into the shared decision- making process if this reduces the stress and burden on their loved ones and increases the chances that they will receive treatment consistent with their preferences and values. If true, using preference predictions would also promote the goal of respecting patients’ preferences regarding how treatment decisions are made for them."
She refutes this argument by saying “the average percent of terminally ill patients who die from pain comes to about 55% overall” (27-28). Counterarguments and their refutations ultimately allow the author to gain support from readers by exposing the flaws that exist within the author’s main cause and reasoning. The use of figurative language and counterarguments garners an extensive amount of support for the argument as they both compliment and support the