When called to see a patient at the tail end of an admission, it's to deliver the worst kind of bad news. I tell her the surgeon was right to spare her the futile surgery. We discuss that chemotherapy would be unhelpful. She asks how long, then adds she figures time is short. I touch her arm, swallow and nod.
She has been interrogated and prodded by all types of doctors. After weeks of investigations for recurrent cancer, she is despondent. One surgeon places her on the operating list. A second, junior surgeon isn't convinced but holds his tongue. A third surgeon, who was scheduled to perform the operation, cancels it and I see why: while surgery is technically feasible, the most predictable outcome would be to prolong hospitalisation at the risk of wasting what precious time remains of her life.
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