Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
OtherReflections

Do something

Jean Elizabeth Hudson
Canadian Family Physician April 2012, 58 (4) 423;
Jean Elizabeth Hudson
MD CCFP FCFP
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
Figure

Cancer.

My wife.

Husbands.

Men.

Why?

Why did they?

Why didn’t they?

If only we had gone to ...

Her family doctor missed it.

Her specialist missed it.

Did you know there is a specialist in the States who could fix this?

If only the surgeon had operated sooner ...

Why did we have to wait?

They said it wouldn’t matter.

Why?

Why didn’t we get more chemotherapy?

Why did they stop chemotherapy?

Why can’t we try?

She’s going to die anyway, why don’t you try?

Why aren’t you doing anything?

Nobody cares.

Nobody listens.

Nobody respects me.

In my country, this would never happen.

You’re just letting her die.

This is a death ward.

This is a deathbed.

Nobody comes.

My wife’s dying, do something.

You doctors are quacks.

Don’t patronize me.

It’s a simple problem, make her nausea go away.

I’m fine; I don’t need help; just make my wife better.

I don’t need a social worker.

I don’t need a psychiatrist; there’s nothing wrong with me; just help my wife.

I don’t trust this system.

I want another doctor.

I want another hospital.

I want another nurse.

I want more tests.

She has no nutrition, do something; feed her.

It’s in God’s hands.

It isn’t up to you, only God knows.

Nobody knows, how do you know?

A miracle will happen.

Why are you giving up?

You aren’t God.

You’re the doctor, you should know.

I know she’s going to die, do something now.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    None declared

  • Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Family Physician: 58 (4)
Canadian Family Physician
Vol. 58, Issue 4
1 Apr 2012
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Do something
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Do something
Jean Elizabeth Hudson
Canadian Family Physician Apr 2012, 58 (4) 423;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Share
Do something
Jean Elizabeth Hudson
Canadian Family Physician Apr 2012, 58 (4) 423;
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Footnotes
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • What they teach us
  • Communion in the clinic
  • Hello from the other side
Show more Reflections

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
  • Collections - English
  • Collections - Française

For Authors

  • Authors and Reviewers
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Permissions
  • Terms of Use

General Information

  • About CFP
  • About the CFPC
  • Advertisers
  • Careers & Locums
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Subscribers

Journal Services

  • Email Alerts
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • RSS Feeds

Copyright © 2023 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Powered by HighWire