Awwww....I want to learn! Who knew?

raises hand

And, yay for NICE professors! (glares in the direction of mine)

P-C, ~ma to your grandfather and family.

It even had pictures of my insides! Out on a table! Cool!

Very cool. I do realize that pictures aren't for everyone, but grilling the doctor about what is going on is second nature to me. I'm the suspicious type.

Yay for good profs, vw! Not only do you want to learn, it sounds like the prof is thrilled to teach someone who wants to learn.

I both grill the doctor and do massive amounts of research. I have to *know.* The idea that people wouldn't tell me what was going on is kind of appalling to me.

Skipped a bit to send all kinds of ~ma to P-C's grandfather.

Also, don't the doctors have an ethical obligation to tell him his diagnosis so he can make his own decisions about care?

When my great-grandmother developed leukemia, she was never told what she had. She was born and raised in rural West Virginia, and her kids believed the word "cancer" would kill her quicker than the actual disease. They told she simply had a problem with nosebleeds, and she was perfectly happy and unworried until she died. Unethical maybe, but knowing Gram, probably better for her in the end.

When my great-grandmother developed leukemia, she was never told what she had. She was born and raised in rural West Virginia, and her kids believed the word "cancer" would kill her quicker than the actual disease. They told she simply had a problem with nosebleeds, and she was perfectly happy and unworried until she died. Unethical maybe, but knowing Gram, probably better for her in the end.

Huh. That's just... huh.

I read once that cancer used to be this thing you never talked about. Like, say, around the year 1900, if someone had cancer, their relatives would sometimes keep them up in the attic and keep it a secret.

It even had pictures of my insides! Out on a table! Cool!

Is it wrong that for a brief moment I was all "cool! I want to have surgery!"?

Huh. That's just... huh.

She was in her late 80s at the time, and this was back in 1984 or so, and it was a country hospital with a long-time family doctor. Everyone really believed that if she knew she had cancer she would just give up.

I, on the other hand, am like Robin. I want to know *everything* which may come from my mom being chronically ill with lupus. I'm not afraid of doctors, and I like to be treated more as a partner than a ... specimen or something. In each of my pregnancies, I was always praised for being so "good" about my diabetes, and knowing so much, which seemed to really surprise the doctors, when I was all, "Hello? My body, my babies, why wouldn't I be?"

It's not all that uncommon to withhold that information from older patients. I mean, I'm not sure how common it is in the US, but I know it happens often enough outside of here.

And now there are peacock feathers in your photograph. And...yeah. I think this might be The Way To Go. Hmm.

Yes! It is!

I'm wearing the same shade eyeliner you bought here. It reminds me of peacocks. Clearly, this is also a sign.

Ugh. Gmail seems to be holding my mail hostage. Grrrrrrrrrr...

She was in her late 80s at the time, and this was back in 1984 or so, and it was a country hospital with a long-time family doctor. Everyone really believed that if she knew she had cancer she would just give up.

There's a certain charm to this story, and I can certainly understand the motivations of everyone involved. I think it has something to do with the long-time family doctor aspect -- I mean, I had the same pediatrician growing up, but since adulthood I haven't really formed a relationship with a doctor that involves complete trust.

And, I have to say, for all my interest in what my doctors might be up to, I in no way want to see pictures of what my dentist is up to or hear the blow-by-blow. I still want to make the decisions, but after that I just to know what drugs I can have and when it's all over. Hee!