(from the book)
---There was a patient at onetime who was dying of cancer. She actually had a tumor where the eye once was. Though, not a patient of Dr. Sweet, the woman wanted to speak to her about something important. Dr. Sweet had trepidation's, but went to the bed despite it all.
---With ALL the woman had to talk about, she spoke of one thing. She, basically, hadn’t spoken to the doctor before this. She leaned in and the woman said, ‘’I want to talk about the food.’’ And, another concern the patient had was if she could get ''eyeglasses for her 'good' eye so that she could read again?''
---The accompanying realization was the beginning of the doctor realizing that, after-a-time, residents/patients still are most times concerned with things they have control of and have made a certain peace with some of the larger issues that Dr. Sweet thought was the problem. Many times it is the small things that are the problems. Big and small were now issues that were very different animals to both.
This is a HUGE point of contention! ---I have had much the same experience. And I think that others may relate, also. The priorities change. Staff cannot understand why residents think that such-a-small-issue is the issue…when, clearly, to them, there is so much to deal with. It must be such-and-such. This is HUGE point of contention. I feel that a very basic point of difference comes when a staff person projects what the resident is thinking/feeling. The staff puts his/her own biases right in the way. Be Well.
