DO my best to avoid mixing patients with leisure .

After all , who wants to head out for lunch with a person on whom you ’ ve just performed cry-

PICTURE CREDIT

otherapy , especially if it was for

recurrent genital warts ?

Generally , though , it ’ s unavoidable

that someone you know will

ask for your opinion on the medical

strife they are facing .

When that medical crisis strikes

among close friends or family , the

doctor in the group is often the

first call .

A few years ago , I was summoned

into action when a dear

This kind of communication is

way to relay user-friendly medical

I carefully read my friend ’ s email .

Eventually , I explained it as I saw

family friend had her breast can-

something I ’ m unfamiliar with . I

information to patients who want to

I wanted to make sure I could inform

it . I asked my friend to speak once

cer return .

usually make sure that when I call a

know more , the leaflets I hand out

her as best as possible . But after

more with her specialist , as it was

Considering my friend ’ s rela-

patient after hours , my phone num-

are from reputable sources and are

reading the attached study for hours

beyond my scope of practice .

tively young age and the positive prognosis at the outset of her diagnosis , we were all hit for six .

The CT report was ghastly — she

ber is hidden . Otherwise , my mobile might be transformed into some sort of healthcare hotline .

My friend was stoic and excep-

designed to avoid medical jargon .

The journal paper

The study my friend had been sent

on end , I was left in a head spin . It was a very small group of patients , and no one case was the same as another .

I couldn ’ t believe she had been sent all this information via email while she was at death ’ s door .

And the information she had

was truly riddled with the disease

tionally brave . She was also prag-

was the very opposite . It didn ’ t

At best , this new agent seemed

been sent , I could barely make

this time around .

matic and said that if she was a pet ,

promise a miracle cure , it didn ’ t

to be offering a few months of addi-

head or tail of , despite having

The choice

As the treatment options had withered

, she was left in that predicament no-one ever wants to face , and was uncertain on the next steps .

Should she do nothing and accept the weeks of life left and live them as best she could ?

she ’ d have already been put down . An email from her oncologist was forwarded to me , and it was blunt : do

describe it as a wonder treatment , but it was stuffed full of graphs and tables with statistical lingo

She interpreted it as potentially 12 months of additional life , but I couldn ’ t reach the same conclusion .

tional life , and that obviously came with no guarantees . But this was not clear at all .

My friend had interpreted it as potentially 12 months of additional life on offer , but I could not reach the same conclusion .

I was left dithering about what I would do if I were in that abyss , let

nearly 20 years of medical practice behind me .

Limits of consent

It really made me question the

boundaries of informed consent .

My friend made her decision after much deliberation .

Unfortunately , her trial of the

Or should she trial one of those

alone what I should advise my friend .

additional chemotherapeutic agent

oncology wonder drugs that might

nothing and die soon , or try an agent

that gave me flashbacks of AKT

I rang my father , a more experi-

hindered rather than helped .

prolong her life by a few months ,

that may temporarily help .

maths questions .

enced physician than me with more

Thankfully , she did not suffer

but knowing it carries side-effect

She attached a study on the final

Sending all this information to

than 50 years under his belt .

long , stayed positive to the very

risks that could end that same life

chemotherapeutic drug on offer and

my friend via email seemed to lack a

“ Enjoy what ’ s left ,” he said . “ The

end , and showed those close to her

in the blink of an eye ?

asked for my opinion .

personal touch .

chemo will kill them .”

the true meaning of valour .

My friend had an open dia-

Now , as much as I love using

How could her treating practi-

He hadn ’ t even read the study

logue via email with her treating oncologists .

patient information leaflets in consults and find them an excellent

tioner gauge her reaction to the news without seeing her face to face ?

properly but understood the predicament .

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