Denver Catholic

diagnosis, which began to lead her down a different path. "I think palliative care kind of chose me," she said. "I realized that so much of patient suffering was beyond just managing with chemotherapy. We were forgetting who the person was behind the cancer diagnosis." In addition to helping patients and families better cope with their situa- tion, Rodden also serves as an advocate for the patient and helps to facilitate excellent communication between them and their families. "Our job hasn't changed," Rodden said. "Actually, our job has become a bit busier because there's a lot of patients coming in who are facing a potentially very serious illness. It's been a real beautiful time to serve as a palliative care doctor, but it's hard." In keeping with her call as a palliative care doctor, Rodden strives to ensure that each patient is known as more than just a diagnosis and that their inherent dignity remains intact. This is especially important for those who are diagnosed with COVID -19. "We want to know them as a person. And we want the whole staff to know them as a person because this disease has a lot of stigma with it, [as we've seen] all around in our community," she explained. "I want to help the whole hospital remember that this patient is a person." For COVID -19 patients in particular, strict isolation has become the norm. Family members are not allowed in the room with their loved one. Sometimes, multiple family members are hospitalized at the same time. The human con- nection and feeling of being cared for that is so important for people suffering from illness has become limited. Despite these challenges, Rodden and her team do what they can to make the patients and their families feel loved. "Our team tries to creatively think of ways to love these patients and families in the hospitals," she said. "Sometimes that's having the families send in photos or letters or notes, maybe colored drawings by kids. We post those in the patient's room for them. We've had family members make signs and we've helped figure out where they can stand so that they can show them through the window and the family member can see them from there. Any way we can try to create opportunities for connection for families, during this time in particular." Due to COVID -19, Rodden has been seeing patients she wouldn't nor- mally see. The nature of this virus and the fact that it can be dangerous to people of all ages, regardless of health background, makes for a tough reality check in people – Rodden included. "For a lot of these patients, they are previously healthy. It's very differ- ent than my typical patients I see in palliative care who have had chronic illnesses for many years and are not a stranger to the health care system," Rodden explained. "For a lot these patients and their family members, their only exposure to hospitals might be through television shows or what the media is portraying right now. They don't know what it what it means to be connected to a ventilator." In this trying and difficult time for our society, doctors have perhaps one of the toughest jobs. However, like many healthcare workers, Rodden knows that she's right where she's supposed to be. "A lot of us are exhausted, but we wouldn't imagine being anywhere else," she said. "It's why we went into health care, is to be like helping at a time like this." Natalie Rodden leads the palli- ative care team at St. Anthony's North Health Campus in Westmin- ster. Her job has taken on a new meaning amid the coronavirus pandemic. 14 DENVER CATHOLIC | MAY 9-22, 2020

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