The Quality of Mercy: Will You Be My Doctor?

Daaleman details the troubling phenomenon in patients who are new to his practice and have multiple comorbidities. Joan (not her real name) first came to see me several months ago with a recent medical history that included an aggressive breast cancer, resulting in a double mastectomy, as well as a wide surgical resection of a melanoma that was discovered a short time after her first diagnosis. And if these misfortunes were not enough, just a few months out from her cancer operations, Joan was a passenger in a car that was struck by another vehicle, which eventually led to a rotator cuff repair of her right shoulder. Joan was still in a shoulder immobilizer when they first met, and she recounted each of these adversities in a measured, almost rehearsed way.