My first impression of the lady was not very flattering. She appeared unable to grasp the seriousness of my words and the urgency of the situation. In retrospect though, I suppose I was also to be blamed for not being forceful enough when I first explained to her the condition of her mother and the need for immediate surgery. Her mother had a large goitre compressing her trachea (the windpipe) that had also paralysed her right vocal cord.
This indicated a high probability of malignancy. Lady challenged my diagnosis of cancer as her mother had been carrying the goitre for the last twenty years, it had never bothered her much in the past and maybe it was not as serious as I seemed to believe. I explained patiently that long-standing benign goitres were known to suddenly change their behaviour and this must have happened in her mother’s case. She did not seem convinced and requested for…
