So Depressing

I’ve seen some depressing stories since I’ve become a doctor. But there is one that I think about all the time. There is one that I have tried over and over again to write a story about, but I just can’t do it justice.
It was during my Geriatrics Fellowship. I was working for about 3 months with hospice. At the time I was  working in the Hospice House (its like a hospital for people that are actively dying.) We admitted a 40 year old African American lady dying of breast cancer. She was diagnosed only about a year previously and it took her by storm. She was married and had 2 daughters. At one point before she was admitted, she was going to radiation therapy every day. It had taken such a toll on her that she was unable to walk on her own. So her husband - who I remember being this huge strong muscular man would pick her up and carry her into the hospital for therapy every day. Their daughters were only about 10 years old. They absolutely could not handle the situation and wouldn’t see their mom. Their way of dealing with this horrible event was to become angry. I remember they would yell at their father about how useless they thought he was.
During the last days of her life her husband sat next to her day and night. Here was this gigantic muscular man, but I remember the expression on his face was so hopeless and helpless.
There are definitely more depressing scenarios. But at the time I was a new father (my son was only about 1 and a ½ at the time) and it just hit so close to home.