I wanted to share the editorial written by Dr Surbone (http://bit.ly/fUfHQI)
about my recent paper in Surgical Oncology (http://bit.ly/i4T6XE) .
Her Editorial is very insightful and adds depth and dimensions to the issues of care of patients with cancer.
I hope that you will find it of interest.

Itzhak Brook MD MSc

Great editorial Doc. thanks for sharing. It's very well written. Well worth reading.
charm

Dr. Brook, I enjoyed your article...very interesting and beautifully written. Thank you for sharing it. I can imagine many surgeons getting a wake up call from your article.

Anita

Dr. Brooks, Thanks for writing and posting your article.

Although my trials and tribulations don't compared to yours, I do relate.

For me the surgical prep experience and then waking up in the hospital ICU ward was sheer trauma and terror - just for an ND, a bunch of biopsies and a (wide) Tonsillectomy! The place was a nightmare - doors wide open and alarms in rooms up and down the hall going off constantly. Despite the meds, I don't think I got much sleep until the poor guy next to me finally died.

After that I needed a stay in a Psycho unit. I left the hospital in a state of shock!

DonB said....

"The place was a nightmare - doors wide open and alarms in rooms up and down the hall going off constantly. Despite the meds, I don't think I got much sleep until the poor guy next to me finally died."

There's a Horror movie script ready to be written!

LOL David. Thanks for the post Dr. Very well written and understandable.

I am grateful to have read all the messages. It is my hope that physicians would be able to gain insight into the hardship their patients go through and be more caring and compassionate.

Itzhak Brook MD

I wanted to share with the readers a message I received from a head and neck surgeon who cares for cancer patient. He wrote it to me after reading my recent manuscript about my experiences as a patient.

" Dr. Brook,

Thank you for writing the essay on your experience as a patient that I read through your blog http://dribrook.blogspot.com. It was eloquent and moving. You exposed the shortcomings of healthcare that our patients are often reluctant to bring forth, or simply cannot appreciate as laypeople.

I am a head and neck surgeon in private practice. You have reinforced my view that, for the oncology patient, there is no subtitute for a personal relationship between patient and treating physician. A more personal relationship induces more communication and compels the treating physician to be more attentive.

Cancer is simply too complex and too overwhelming, for most patients, to allow care to be administered in the manner of our current model. The treating physician, whether it be the surgeon, radiation oncologist, or hematologist oncologist, must be aware of the patients status constantly. He must be willing to orchestrate care and shield the patient from inappropriate or incompetent care. He must be willing to stay in frequent contact with the patient. Substandard nursing care is pervasive and adds an extra burden for the vigilant physician.

The paradigm for care of which I speak is labor intensive and not financially renumerative, but it is best for the patient and most gratifying for the healer."

It is my hope that many more physicians will be willing to recognize these issues and implement them.

Itzhak Brook MD