On diagnosis 2

I just want say a few things about the breaking of bad news. Now obviously I'm coming at this from one side of the equation and receiving a diagnosis of a life threatening illness is never really going to be taken with equanimity, but in my experience (and those I've met in a similar position) it could be done a hell of a lot better. One blogger, who is a doctor, puts it rather well and like this...

"The first time a doctor breaks bad news to a patient, or tells a family about the death of their loved one, it's an emotionally difficult thing to do. The subsequent times are difficult too. Every patient is different, and the doctor relaying the news has to be prepared to deal with the fears, emotions, questions and comments of the person or people to whom he relays this news. Breaking bad news is never easy. But (and I'm almost ashamed to admit this) it gets easier."

The doctor who told me I had an incurable cancer must have delivered this kind of bombshell hundreds of times before me and doubtless many times more since. It's his job after all. For me it's a one off. And yes I'm sure that he must have either got used to it over the years or distanced himself emotionally in some way but the result was that I was told the most awful news in manner resembling an accountant discussing an overdue tax return - Yes it's crap but not worth getting flustered about. He was calm, precise, thorough...and completely and utterly devoid of any kind of humanity whatsoever. Not a spark. Not a glimmer. Even when my tear-soaked and sobbing wife asked him if he could offer any hope he singularly failed to connect with us on a basic human level. To make a bad situation worse the room in which this dreadful business was transacted was not a place set aside for the purpose but a grotty, airless little cubby hole where various supplies for the ward were kept. Thus it was when we were given some time to be alone we were constantly interrupted by people looking for pots for urine samples.

Yes I appreciate that breaking bad news is a shitty thing to do and that to stop yourself becoming clinically depressed you have to remove yourself in some way from the reality of what's going on....but do doctors really have to do this at the expense of their compassion and humanity?