Doctors Seldom Sell Dreams

By Xu Yunyun

Afamily member of my friend was suspected of having cancer and went to Beijing to see an expert in the field. As a local, I accompanied them to the hospital.

We waited for a day before the patient could finally sit in front of the top doctor in the field, who was kind and patient. The expert examined him by asking his conditions, conducting a medical analysis, and drawing diagrams on a piece of paper to help him understand his illness. The results indicated the possibility of cancer, which could enter into two categories, each with different treatment.

Therefore, further tests had to be done. There are two testing methods: One is to cooperate with other relevant departments to examine him with the help of some drugs and other methods.If that doesn't work, a second testing method would be adopted,which involves a higher risk.When the test results come back,there are solutions proposed for either type of the cancer,respectively. Of course, both types of solutions may come with different complications and corresponding after effects, which are labeled as A, B, C, D, etc.

The doctor's explanations are complicated and detailed,yet with clear logic, which is easy to understand, even for the overwhelming and distraught family members of the patient.

At the end of the consultation,I put forward my question: “If the cooperative test doesn't work out (when the family wants to keep the patient from knowing his fatal disease in case of a possible emotional breakdown),is it possible to conduct some experimental treatments? If the experimental treatment proves effective, it can relieve the patient's symptoms and prepare him for further tests, while it can help identify the type of tumor.

The doctor replied frankly:“In general, we don't do this. We must go step by step. You are a doctor yourself, so if you fully understand what it means and are willing to bear with the worst possible consequences, I'll leave it with you to make your own decisions.”

People all have expectations,which might be unrealistic sometimes, yet we still hope them to come true. Unfortunately,dreams are not something doctors offer. Doctors provide practical and feasible solutions, which in many cases might not be able to meet up with the patient's expectations. For someone who's trying to grasp the last straw, can he or she accept whatever comes with calmness?

People say doctors are too rational, but that's because we understand how far science can go and how difficult the path is.We all love to see a happy ending,which is sometimes possible,yet not always the case. Even couples determined to spend the rest of their lives together on their wedding day might end up divorced. So all we need to do is to calmly accept the “best possible solution” and put it into good implementation, which is better than waiting for an unrealistic fantasy. As the saying goes, the moon in the water and flower in the mirror cannot become real after all.

(From City Express.Translation: Lu Qiongyao)

醫生那兒沒夢想

文/徐蘊蕓

朋友的親人被懷疑得了癌癥，來北京請專家看看，我作陪。

他提前一天排隊，找了一位國內頂尖的專家，專家非常慈祥耐心。先問病情，再做分析，邊說邊在病歷本上畫圖示意：從目前結果來看，有可能就是癌癥，但是，這種癌癥分為兩類，處理方法不同，必須做檢查明確；檢查也分兩種，可以請其他科室協助用一些藥物和方法來配合檢查，實在配合不了，也可以換另一種檢查方法，不過，風險略微高一些；獲得檢查結果后，兩類癌癥都有經典解決方案，當然，兩種方案存在各自的一些并發癥，注意事項是甲、乙、丙、丁……層層深入、邏輯清楚，即使是焦頭爛額、心亂如麻的癌癥患者家屬，也能完全明白。

最后我問，如果檢查實在配合不了（因為家屬想對患者隱瞞病情），是否可以先進行試驗性治療？如果治療有效，既能緩解病情實施檢查，又能反證腫瘤類型。

醫生坦率地說：“一般來說，不可以這樣做，我們必須一步一步走下去。你也是醫生，如果完全明白其中的關系，并且愿意承擔可能最壞的后果，你要怎么做，我就不再過問了。”

每個人都有一種期盼，有些時候，這是不切實際的，我們還是希望夢想成真。可惜我們從醫生那兒不會得到夢想，只會得到一個現實的可操作的方案，醫生的“最佳”和病人的“最佳”之間，總有落差，企圖抓住最后一根稻草的求醫者，是否能夠冷靜地接受這結局？

都說醫生太理性，因為我們太明白科學走了多遠，路途又有多艱險。皆大歡喜誰不愛？大團圓不是不可能，但是，不能惠及所有人，就好像手牽手說白頭偕老的各位，也有勞燕分飛的，我們要做的只是冷靜接受“最佳解決方案”，并將它完美實施，好過等待心中幻想的那一個水中月、鏡中花。

（摘自《城市快報》）