UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology December First Edition - Flipbook - Page 26
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
Initial thought? What an absolute honor! Immediate afterthought? I had
better check what in the hell is in my cup! Like many of our patients, I, too,
am immunocompromised, anxious, fearful, feeling helpless, and exhausted.
COVID, our political climate, treatment of BIPOC, the disabled, and those
who identify as LGBTQA+ in our country, and disasters across the world
leaving so many in peril have taken their direct and indirect toll. Not enough
Red Bulls and Diet Cokes in this world! My cup was often empty and when
filled, filled with substance that did not serve me or those around me. I know
that many are feeling the same. I began a daily practice of asking myself each
morning, “What is in your cup today and how will it serve what is ahead of
you?” Though Red Bulls and Diet Cokes have served me well, how much of
that practice has been a coping mechanism to simply get me through the
day? What does that look like in terms of how present I am with patients?
While it may work on a busy clinic day – running room to room – am I able
to adapt to an anxious patient or family member or be in tune with my own
feelings enough to come from a place of complete compassion? What would
happen if I filled my cup with tea? With hot chocolate when it hit 65 in LA?
With water when I’m thirsty? With ¼ self-compassion when my cup is ¾ lack
of focus, hope, motivation and momentum? With seeking support when I
am feeling defeated by hurt and grief? With engagement when I am lonely?
With asking for help when I am feeling that I am not in a space to perform a
task? By acknowledging what was and was not in my cup, I have gained what
our patients and so many of us are looking for during this time – a sense of
control.
Now is the time to assess our cups, reflect on its productive and hindering
contents, and fill it with material that is meaningful to our lives and,
subsequently, the lives of our patients, families, and community. For many
of us, we are the closest we will ever be to alignment with our patients’
experience while also serving as the substance that fills their cups. While an
incredible responsibility, it is unique opportunity for empathy that benefits
us all. It is easy to reach for something that simply fills our cups and exhaust
ourselves with emptying whatever we have. I challenge each of you to fill
your cups with the sweetest nectar for a unifying “cheers” to what we have
and in honor and memory of those who have not.
Contributed by:
Liz Morasso, LCSW, OSW-C
Clinical Social Worker III, Department of Radiation Oncology
Liz Morasso, LCSW, received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Education Studies from Catholic
University in 2008 and Master of Social Welfare in 2010. She is currently the Clinical Social Worker in the
Department of Radiation Oncology. Liz has had numerous speaking engagements across the country focused
on issues such as mental health and well-being in the chronic disease community, transition and transfer to
adult care for pediatric populations, and navigating insurance and other difficult systems. Prior to her position
at UCLA, Liz was a clinical social worker in the Divisions of Hematology/Oncology and Adolescent Medicine at
Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
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