Am I Racist?

Abstract

R. was a teenager when his osteosarcoma came roaring back, with vertebral metastases that left him paralyzed and bed-bound. He'd been told he was going to die, but his mother, a tower of strength, was determined to keep things positive. During home visits, she stood guard, making sure my team and I were never alone with him and diverting any conversation that came close to the question of what he knew or wanted to know. That part of him belonged to her. Though we told her resuscitation was inadvisable, that was a limit she couldn't set and a conversation we couldn't have.