I could go on and on about doctors. Good ones and – mostly – bad ones. But if you find a compassionate one -no matter how naive – you’ve been blessed.
Not to say that they aren’t an enormous help in dealing with day-to-day and practical miseries to be faced. But many may not have a detailed idea of what your child’s ailment entails, or are not updated with the latest knowledge on diagnosing and caring for the condition, or lack in their knowledge of what curative options have lately been made available.
Though the dreariest are the ones who have been careless in spilling out the worst scenarios of their arrogance and ignorance onto a parent’s poor, sickly depressed soul.
Take an example or two; one doctor got into a fit and started telling a parent that “your child only has a few years to live anyway, why are you worrying so much and making a fuss about everything !” I can’t imagine how that parent lived throughout the rest of that day or how he will view doctors for the rest of his life.
Another doctor, after just telling the parents that their newborn was Thalassemic and needed blood transfusion, felt that the parents were hesitant and confused. So the doctor – taking matters in his own hand – took the parents up to the ward where the children were hooked up to blood bottles for transfusion to show them “how everyone was doing it” to the shock and depression of both parents who were just now learning how to pronounce T-H-A-L-A-S-S-E-M-E-I-A.
It’s a matter of compassion. Can’t they understand that ? We need doctors we can trust to be compassionate with our children and treat them as humans who’s well-being also depends on love and respect, and not physical fitness alone.
Good doctors …
… have a clear strategy as to how they aim to treat a patient, weighing in the pros and cons of each option available to them in view of the patient’s condition.
… treat parents as CARE-GIVERS supporting them with education on what they need to know to better take care of their child, as well as enlightening them on what the doctor’s specific strategy is and why the doctor aims to take those options rather than others.
… have medical sources regularly update them on treatment options. They – in turn – update parents and other care-givers, giving them hope for the future of their loved ones.
… compassionately care how they approach each situation with a patient or care-giver, in order not to cause unnecessary stress that would negatively affect their well-being.
How have your experiences been with your doctors ?
How did you handle and cope with critical situations ?
Tell us with a comment by clicking the “Add a comment” link below.
