Long Term Memories
Monday, June 08, 2015
Memories of 1990 Diagnoses and follow up
My father was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1990.
One memory is when the doctor was telling him about the proposed treatment (my mother and I were in the room), the doctor said,
"Well a side effect of this treatment is the loss of hair but I don't think we'll worry about this."
My father was bald at the time (well for many years before that time) and well aware of this particular effect and nodded. The doctor, apparently disappointed that his brilliant joke wasn't acknowledged told it again a few minutes later.
This particular doctor, at some point started to refuse to answer questions my father had and my father switched doctors (although that didn't help much).
After my father died (I think about 3 years later), the doctor who made the 'joke' and had been, in effect fired by my father, sent my mother a request for a recommendation or endorsement or something similar.
My mother told me she wrote something particularly scathing. I don't remember seeing it.
I don't think mom wanted me to see it because it would remind me of dad's death or because the letter used 'harsh' language in critising the doctor's human skills.
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I thought of this because of George's chem this week. Post on that is linked here.
One memory is when the doctor was telling him about the proposed treatment (my mother and I were in the room), the doctor said,
"Well a side effect of this treatment is the loss of hair but I don't think we'll worry about this."
My father was bald at the time (well for many years before that time) and well aware of this particular effect and nodded. The doctor, apparently disappointed that his brilliant joke wasn't acknowledged told it again a few minutes later.
This particular doctor, at some point started to refuse to answer questions my father had and my father switched doctors (although that didn't help much).
After my father died (I think about 3 years later), the doctor who made the 'joke' and had been, in effect fired by my father, sent my mother a request for a recommendation or endorsement or something similar.
My mother told me she wrote something particularly scathing. I don't remember seeing it.
I don't think mom wanted me to see it because it would remind me of dad's death or because the letter used 'harsh' language in critising the doctor's human skills.
-----
I thought of this because of George's chem this week. Post on that is linked here.
