It's Not the How or the What but the Who

{6}

Decision Fatigue

I recently heard a story about a man in his sixties who had colon cancer and needed surgery. He went into surgery at 7 p.m., but an hour later, the surgeon came out and told the family that, unfortunately and unexpectedly, the situation was beyond hope. His advice was to provide palliative care and wait for the end; not even chemotherapy or radiation could help. After a day of mental anguish, the patient decided to get a second opinion. Another surgeon operated on him, and twelve years later he is alive and happy.

There’s a telling detail in that anecdote. As one of my friends, a prominent Buenos Aires urologist, exclaimed when he heard it, “A surgeon can’t possibly schedule a procedure like that at night! You’re exhausted! ...