Finding the Right Way to Share Life-Changing Information with Patients

I have not been able to get Ms. K out of my mind ever since making teaching rounds with a resident team earlier this week. Ms. K is a 63-year-old woman who came to the hospital because of “odor coming from my left breast.” Upon further questioning, it became apparent that she had first noted a mass in her breast approximately 18 months ago but chose not to seek help from a physician. She had not gone regularly for medical care and told us she could not remember when her last mammogram was. “I put myself in God’s hands,” was her reply to us when we asked her questions; she only wan...