A couple of months ago, a befriended urologist was in the middle of surgery when his oncologist called “for an update.” He decided to take the call because he was so anxious to hear the news, and for some unknown reason, the oncologist blatantly told him.
The little and not so little black dots in the scans turned out to be bone metastasis, and the status of his cancer condition basically was upgraded to the very last stage. And as an MD, he knew what that meant. And the shock came in too hard.
While he had started the operation as a surgeon, the news turned him into a patient right away, and he could not go on — he instantly was unfit to proceed because his mind was going to the wrong places. So he had to stop, and asked another urologist to take his place — it’s that simple.
Sometimes though — as you can well imagine — an operation can get so tedious at times that a sheer replacement at the wrong moment can put the life of a patient at stake.
One surgeon we know decided to finish a complicated and stressing procedure by himself, although he did not feel very well. Afterwards, after the patient had been closed, he said to the OR people that he needed a nap in his office.
The next day, they found him irresponsive, and he had actually died.
The heart attack that killed him most probably started during the operation.
But he had made a choice.
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