Before dying of cancer, doctor leaves letter with inspiring lessons

After facing breast cancer, Santa Catarina doctor Larissa Andressa Medeiros died on December 22, aged 40. A few days earlier, she had left a letter addressed to her family members, who shared Larissa’s lessons and reflections on social media.

Larissa was a hematologist and worked at the Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). She died in Curitiba and the Union of Doctors of the State of Santa Catarina (Simesc), to which she was affiliated until 2013, when she moved to the capital of Paraná, confirmed her death in a note.

In her last days of life, when the doctors had given her a 10% chance of being cured, she wrote: “Today, having millions of reais in your bank account, a ticket for a wonderful trip, a beautiful dress or being able to go to restaurants amazing things, drink good wine, eat delicious sweets… I could not enjoy any of that”.

Due to the disease, according to her reports, she was not willing to travel, could not drink or eat sweets. Besides, she wouldn’t be in the mood to wear a pretty dress with joy.

Without discarding everyday financial responsibilities, she regretted having “wasted so much time” in search of professional prestige. “Working, having responsibilities, having savings are important things, but no more than living today and enjoying the good things in life. To live always waiting for a future that may not come is to die little by little, ”she wrote.

For her, what remained were the good times and experiences. “I heard that from patients, but I didn’t put it into practice”. And she asks people not to let themselves be in the same situation to realize what she noticed only when there was no more time.

“Fights, complaints, vanities, conflicts happen, but they suck our energy and lead nowhere, they turn a happy meeting into something unpleasant”, he lamented. “Love, forgiveness, peace, joy renew everything”.

At the end of the letter, she says: “I want to shout to everyone I care about: ‘Take charge of your lives, travel, date, buy responsibly what gives you pleasure, life is today, only today!’”