It is a pleasure to give patients favorable medical
news. It’s an even greater pleasure to
receive it. Technology has replaced so
much of our wholesome and human interactions.
Book stores are disappearing. Handwritten
thank you notes? Nearly extinct. The corner hardware store where the owner
knows your family? Today, we have Big
Box warehouses where, if you hire a private investigator, you might be able to
find a hiding salesman.
Need a salesman? Hire Sherlock!
The joy and relief that a patient and family feel when the
physician says that all will be well has no technological equivalent. We have all had anxiety about our own health
or the well-being of those we care about.
When the physician enters the room to deliver news, there is fear and
tension knowing that lives may change after just a few sentences are uttered.
Fortunately, the vast majority of the news I deliver is just
what patients and families want to hear.
- The biopsy result was benign.
- The CAT scan was normal.
- You won’t need surgery after all.
Paradoxically, I have discovered over the years that many
patients are downright disappointed when they receive good medical news. Gastroenterologists like me evaluate
thousands of patients with chronic digestive symptoms, such as pain, nausea and
bloating. Although these symptoms are
100% real, diagnostic testing often shows no abnormalities. I cannot count how many instances in my career that patients are upset to learn that the test results were normal. Now, of course, these patients don’t want to
learn that they have a serious medical condition. But, they do want an answer and are
frustrated that no clear explanation is apparent. We physicians understand their frustration,
but we are relieved that these patients are not facing a dire medical threat.
Here’s my profound summary comment. Good medical news is a gift, even if it
leaves some medical issues unexplained.
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