Ties and relatives

Dr Rob reminded me this week that patient encounters go beyond medicine. I once knew a sweet lady with locally recurrent breast cancer. My supervising surgeon was a teddy-bear of a man - like your favourite grandfather. At the end of dealing with her medical issues, I would fetch Mr Teddy-Bear, and he would always meet with her.

Surgeon enters room.

Sweet lady: Hello! A yellow tie! I could see you halfway up the corridor.

Mr Teddy Bear (grinning): A present from my son: a Father’s day gift. Helpful if there is a power outage - I won’t need a torch! What about you - are you still causing trouble?

SL: I’m fine. I make up problems so I can come and visit Cris. How are the girls? (referring to MrTB’s 13 year old twin daughter)

MrTB: Good. I played golf with them last weekend. Getting better.

SL: You or them? Wow. I don’t see how you find the time.

MrTB: I’m not sure, either. Keeps me tired, though. Any complaints for me?

SL: No, I just love your staff. They look after me. It’s a pleasure to have to come.

MrTB (shaking hands): Good. I’ll see you next week.

The conversations were always the same - ties, self-depreciating jokes and family talk. The barest, briefest mention of medicine. Mr TB demonstrated some of the advantages of being a consultant. Surgery can create long-term partnerships with patients. And when everyone understands what is going on, the relationship is all that matters.