conversation

"So you're telling me that my baby is going to die? No matter what I do?"
"It has Edwards Syndrome. There is no cure."
"There must be something I can do."
"I'm sorry."
"What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing."
"I look and feel the same but now my baby must die. How can that be possible?"
"I don't know."

"I don't know."

When I was younger I had a technique for delivering bad news. It left me feeling pretty much unscathed.

Now I definitely feel.

information, age

How do you respond when you don't know as much as you would like. It can be embarrassing when a young doctor is better informed on an issue. Or a patient.  It can be hard to admit that you don't know everything in your own field.Some doctors try to bluff their way through,but it is painfully obvious - they lose more respect for that than by their lack of knowledge.


 I try to remember how my mentors dealt with it. Sometimes I was the one with the new information. How did they handle it? As I recall, they encouraged me to explain as much as I could. I was very proud of myself but didn't feel superior. I was just delivering the news.


So why do I feel so embarrassed now? I understand it is the way of the world. But I do not understand the giant babies.


(with apologies to A Softer World)

film review

I saw The Avengers with my son. My review: That Scarlett Johanssen sure wears tight trousers. I forget the rest.

ancient ruins

frozen fresh meat

a typical Irish Pub

I learned to like Guinness at Conways, across the road from the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin. This beer wasn't too bad, even though it wasn't in Ireland.

winter morning

 car roof

 closer view

inside view of windscreen