I once said that doctors should be well paid because they had to routinely tell people they were going to die. Dave’s new doctor had to deliver bad news about inoperable cancer on his first visit with Dave.
Dave then talked to me on the phone and said he had a new doctor (he has a new doctor every week in the hospital) and doctor du jour was going to call me and tell me a lot of bullshit about cancer, and I should not believe him.
So once I got the scoop from the doctor I not only had to deliver the news again to Dave, I had to convince him of it. And I could hear myself and how cold it sounded. I remembered the time I was in the hospital and overheard someone get the bad news and it was horrible.
And I’m sure it’s not over, because he does have self-delusion honed by years of alcoholism, plus he was on drugs at the time, so he probably won’t remember. I’ll probably have to do it again.
2 responses to “Giving the Bad News”
Oof. Sorry you are having to do this, and I hope it goes as well as possible for both of you.
KC – happily, he got on board after I told him.