816-B was a patient I will never forget. He was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer and his only option was palliative radiation, which he did for a few weeks before deciding to stop treatments. He was rapidly losing weight, looking thinner and paler each day. He could not eat, could not drink, and worst of all, he could not stop vomiting. His room smelled like rotting flesh and bile, distinguishable from down the hall. He was on maximum doses of medications to treat his nausea, pain, and malnutrition, but nothing seemed to help. Hour after hour and day after day he vomited bile and suffered through pain, but was astonishingly facing the imminent end of his life with a sense of peace. Regardless of his weakness, discomfort, and unrelenting nausea, 816-B literally greeted me each day with his head held high, two thumbs up, and a smile. His ability to stay peaceful while experiencing such severe suffering is something I only partially understand but am deeply inspired by. 816-B will always remind me of the beauty in life and in death.

The “816-B” inking represents a deteriorating stomach plagued by a cancerous tumor. It’s twisted in a knot to convey the abdominal pain and nausea felt for so long by this patient. The stomach is white, malnourished, and ghost-like. The tumor took the life of this stomach and this patient but it did not take his spirit. His peacefulness, kindness, and acceptance were beyond his diagnosis, something bigger than death. For that, he will be remembered in the most beautiful way by those who knew him.