Palliative Curriculum - Part 7 - Communicating Effectively

Hello, I'm waiting for results on Hector Gonzalez. No carcinoma. Can you send Mr. Gonzalez in, please? Hi, Mr. Gonzalez. How are you? Okay, doctor. You must be Vivian. Yes. I'm Dr. Bridger. Please have a seat. Thank you. I'm glad you were able to come. I know your father really wanted you to be here when I go over those test results with him. Mr. Gonzalez, did they tell you anything when they did the colonoscopy? No, doctor. They didn't tell me anything. They didn't say anything. I know you wanted me to tell things to you straight, so I'm going to do that. I'm afraid I have bad news. The mass in your intestines is a cancer. Oh, Vivian. That's what I knew. But am I going to do that? I'm really sorry to have to tell you this. I wish I didn't have to give you this news. What does this mean? You know, at this point, we don't know what it means. It may not be as bad as you think. We'll need to do some more tests. Oh, no. I don't want any more tests. Mr. Gonzalez, I know you're upset. But if we do some more tests, we may find out exactly how bad it is, whether the cancer has spread, and what it makes me want to do. But you told me it was cancer. I said it's cancer, but I don't know how bad it is. And only with a few more tests, we'll be able to find out. We probably need to do a CAT scan to get more information. Vivian, I don't understand. What does she mean? Don't worry, Papi. We'll talk about it after. You know, Vivian, I really appreciate your help in explaining things to your father. But Mr. Gonzalez, I'd like for us to talk a little bit more here together so I can know what your questions are. Tell me what you're afraid of. Am I going to die? Cancer does not necessarily mean that your life will be shortened. Many cancers these days are curable. That's why I want to do some more tests to help find out, get some more information. I'm sorry, I'm upset, Doctor. I know, I know. It's a very scary problem. I don't want to talk any more. I want to do whatever I can to help you. Is there anybody else in the family that I should speak to? Yes. My son, Hector. I'll give you the phone. Please, give me his number and I'll call him. And I'll give him some information. And if either of you have any questions, I want you to call me at any time. We're going to take this one step at a time. And I'm going to help you to understand everything that's going on. Thank you, Doctor. Why don't we go make an appointment now?