A MEMORABLE PATIENT

A worthwhile 10 minutes

I was fully booked and running late when the receptionist asked me to fit a patient in. She said that he insisted on seeing me. No one else would do. She had offered appointments for other doctors that day or with me the next day but these were unacceptable. I had finally given in with bad grace.

He is 91, but fully alert, an ex-banker with the attention to detail (or obsessionalism) that I have observed in other retired financial advisers. He has carcinoma of the bronchus, diagnosed two years ago. Despite radiotherapy he continues to cough up blood. He knows his diagnosis and has faced the future calmly. He copes with the slow deterioration bravely and in a matter of fact manner. He always …