某位肝移植患者的意见：

Yes, if a patient is dying that he/she needs to be told. There are many things a person needs to do to prepare for death especially if they have a family dependent on them. Plus to prepare one's soul to meet an Eternal God is an important thing as well. I certainly would want time to prepare to meet my Maker.

某位医生的经历：

I recently had a very ill patient. He had metastatic melanoma, with tumors in his brain, lungs, adrenal glands, and a tumor in his chest that was growing into his heart.

He was aphasic (unable to speak) because of the tumor in his brain. The neurosurgeon wanted to resect that tumor, his logic being that no matter how long the patient had left, it would suck to live the rest of his life without being able to talk.

The patient had only had two of his four planned rounds of immunotherapy, and the oncologist was still optimistic that he might turn a corner and get better. Meanwhile, the patient looked like death warmed over.

On the day of surgery, I sat down next to the patient and his wife, and said this exact phrase:

“You could die today.”

This got them both crying. I was holding back tears myself. But, I owed it to the patient to be honest with him. If he would have died in the operating room, and I hadn’t warned him because of my desire to avoid an unpleasant conversation, I wouldn’t be able to look his wife in the eyes and tell her I did my best.

They confirmed that they wanted everything done. I gave them five minutes of privacy and silence, then took him to the operating room.

It was not an easy case, but he survived the surgery. A few days later, when the swelling went down in his brain, he started speaking again!

I lost contact with him after he left the hospital. Chances are, he’ll be dead in under a year. But, who knows, I hope he proves me wrong.