Mr. GB received a surgical operation 10 days ago. The
histological diagnosis was glioblastoma, which is one of the most aggressive
malignant brain tumors.
Breaking bad news is a complex communication task, and it
is a regrettable but important duty that must be done conscientiously. Today, I
have to give him bad news.
(I planned protected time for one hour and turned off my
mobile phone. I already asked his wife to come here today. I prepared an
informed consent sheet to write down my explanation. Then Mr. GB and his wife
came into the quiet room with a nurse.)
I'll explain the results of the surgical operation. Your
postoperative state is very good and your symptoms have fully recovered. The
histological diagnosis is glioblastoma, as we had expected. It is a malignant
brain tumor, and usually very aggressive. (Silence...) The postoperative MR
images show that the tumor was totally removed. However, the tumor cells
usually invade normal brain tissue. So, we have to assume that the tumor cells
are still in the removal cavity wall. To prevent recurrence of the tumor, we
recommend that you receive radiation and chemotherapy. It may take six weeks. A
radiologist will tell you about the radiation therapy in detail. As for
chemotherapy, we are planning to use drug A and a pharmacist will explain more
about that in the next few days.
I can understand it must
be very worrying for you so please do ask me if you have any questions.
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