What Does Hope Really Look Like?

Hope is an optimistic state of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. (Wikipedia)

Today I had an opportunity to chat with another long standing patient in my ward. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year. Managed to get chemotherapy and radiation. However, her disease progressed. She is now receiving palliative care from us. She has a little bit unusual presentation as compared to others. In short she is now having difficulty in breathing, she needs those machines to support her.

Despite being told that she will be in her current condition and her condition may only deteriorates, she is still hoping that she will recover. She told me, she also wants to be like others, she doesn't want to be bed-bound. I asked her, is there anything else you want or wish to do? She said she wants to see her kids graduate. She said she hopes that she will recover real soon. 

She then asked me, where is Kakak K. She discharged home already? I was reluctant to answer. At last, I said yes, she was discharged home already. Little did she know that, she was discharged to another place already.

Maybe living with hopes is better than knowing that there is no hope anymore.

The irony is, cervical cancer is often curable if it was diagnosed at an early stage.

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. (Romans 8:24-25, NET)

There goes my last 4 months rotation in gynecological ward.