Being Mortal

by

Atul Gawande

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Jewel Douglass Character Analysis

Jewel Douglass is one of Gawande’s patients. Douglass is 72 years old and has metastatic ovarian cancer when Gawande begins treating her. After three rounds of chemotherapy, a tumor begins pressing against her bowels and she vomits up everything she eats. Gawande knows that it’s unlikely she’ll live for more than a year or two. Rather than simply providing her with treatment options as he might usually, Gawande helps Jewel identify her priorities so that he can advise her on the best treatment options. When she says that she wants to be able to eat again, but doesn’t want to take unnecessary risks in surgery, Gawande comes up with a compromise. He states that he will open her up, but if he sees that removing the tumor would be too complicated, he will stop and recommend hospice care instead. This is exactly what ends up happening, and Jewel spends her last two weeks surrounded by family and friends—what her daughter later calls a “perfect ending.” Because Gawande was realistic with Douglass and advised her based on her priorities, she was able to die in the way that she wanted.

Jewel Douglass Quotes in Being Mortal

The Being Mortal quotes below are all either spoken by Jewel Douglass or refer to Jewel Douglass. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Medicine, Survival, and Well-being Theme Icon
).
Chapter 8 Quotes

When our time is limited and we are uncertain about how best to serve our priorities, we are forced to deal with the fact that both the experiencing self and the remembering self matter. We do not want to endure long pain and short pleasure. Yet certain pleasures can make enduring suffering worthwhile. The peaks are important, and so is the ending.

Related Characters: Dr. Atul Gawande (speaker), Gawande’s Father, Jewel Douglass, Sara Monopoli
Page Number: 239
Explanation and Analysis:
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Being Mortal PDF

Jewel Douglass Quotes in Being Mortal

The Being Mortal quotes below are all either spoken by Jewel Douglass or refer to Jewel Douglass. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Medicine, Survival, and Well-being Theme Icon
).
Chapter 8 Quotes

When our time is limited and we are uncertain about how best to serve our priorities, we are forced to deal with the fact that both the experiencing self and the remembering self matter. We do not want to endure long pain and short pleasure. Yet certain pleasures can make enduring suffering worthwhile. The peaks are important, and so is the ending.

Related Characters: Dr. Atul Gawande (speaker), Gawande’s Father, Jewel Douglass, Sara Monopoli
Page Number: 239
Explanation and Analysis: