4 ms·

No matter how probable it is, without a definitive assessment, it is not responsible to announce such a dark diagnosis without certainty. You can't send people

No matter how probable it is, without a definitive assessment, it is not responsible to announce such a dark diagnosis without certainty. You can't send people in this nightmarish process (as described in the article) if there's still a small % chance it is not the definitive diagnosis. And yes, pathological diagnosis is rather long, ie a little week at least so the tissue can be fixated with paraffine, have immunohistochemical markers determine the type, etc. Yet I've visited a place when they could do fast recognition on breast cancers while the patient was on the table, and depending on the result either directly remove lymphatic nodes or not, but I guess this fast coloration is not available for less common tumors. Even if IAs do the reading, for the moment there will still be delay to have a diagnosis.

taforthis2 9y ago
>it is not responsible to announce such a dark diagnosis without certainty I think that's the crux of the discussion here. For many of us, we're going to find out it's a possibility anyway, so what's the point of the doctor not acknowledging it? Actively witholding information just adds to the anxiety. Not asking for an early diagnosis, just a frank discussion about the possibilities.
- hycaria 9y ago
  Disclaimer, these are only hypotheses out of my own experience, and this seems to be extremely dependent on the doctor. That's not an easy announcement to make, and without certitude you don't feel compelled to make it, so maybe a bit of easy way out ? Cancer raises many questions (or so I guess), which takes a lot of time to clear out, for something only hypothetical so far (plus some people are really bad at understanding). Certitude will come a few weeks later and by then you will need to go through hour long appointments to discuss everything again. So lack of time. Maybe it's wrong, I don't know, I just think it's not an easy question and there's no definite answer.

taforthis2 9y ago

>it is not responsible to announce such a dark diagnosis without certainty I think that's the crux of the discussion here. For many of us, we're going to find out it's a possibility anyway, so what's the point of the doctor not acknowledging it? Actively witholding information just adds to the anxiety. Not asking for an early diagnosis, just a frank discussion about the possibilities.

hycaria 9y ago
Disclaimer, these are only hypotheses out of my own experience, and this seems to be extremely dependent on the doctor. That's not an easy announcement to make, and without certitude you don't feel compelled to make it, so maybe a bit of easy way out ? Cancer raises many questions (or so I guess), which takes a lot of time to clear out, for something only hypothetical so far (plus some people are really bad at understanding). Certitude will come a few weeks later and by then you will need to go through hour long appointments to discuss everything again. So lack of time. Maybe it's wrong, I don't know, I just think it's not an easy question and there's no definite answer.