"Doctors still are underprepared for these difficult discussions.
They tend to focus on the disease and not the patient."
Imagine you get the worst news possible: You have late stage cancer. Your doctor lays out the treatment options: chemo, radiation, surgery. You hear lots of numbers, some of them probably related to your prognosis, but you’ve just been told you have cancer. They make no sense. You trust the doc, as do many patients, so you do what the doc tells you. It’s all about a cure.
What if, instead of burying you with data, the doctor instead sat down, looked you in the eye, and clearly and honestly explained your prognosis, then began talking about making you comfortable and giving you the best quality of life possible, but did not promise a cure.
Which doctor would you trust most?
