Tell Me the Truth: Conversations with my Patients about Life and Death

In a book published earlier this month by Penguin titled, Tell Me the Truth: Conversations with my Patients about Life and Death, Australian oncologist Ranjana Srivastava discusses end-of-life communication.  





In a recent interview in the Sidney Morning Herald, Srivastava explains: "we do not talk to our patients as fully as we ought or when we fail to address their concerns that we know lurk beneath the surface - sometimes because we lack the time, but often because we are unsure how to do so.''  She continues:  ''We spend a lot of money on futile medicine and intensive care at the end of life and if we have limited resources like every nation does, we need to be thinking about how those resources are best allocated. I think investing in palliative care and boosting support services for sick people is very important. Those things should not be an adjunct."  

Cancer patients put up with the most and complain the least, endowed with an uncommon wisdom that is a privilege to observe. It is not simply that they see the big picture; if you spend long enough with them, they help you see it too.'

What really happens when someone hears the words, 'You have cancer?'  What has preceded it and what comes after? Written with great compassion and honesty, this is a rare view from the other side of the desk. Oncologist Ranjana Srivastava reflects on the very human side of the medical profession – the moral dilemmas, the anxieties, the empathy  – and shows us that the best doctors are the ones who keep learning by listening to their patients.

This book is much more than an oncologist's diary; it is an acknowledgement of the incredible courage of ordinary people as they confront the big issues of life and death.