The patient’s scan showed an abnormal area – a little like a small, white ball, pressing on the left side of his brain. ‘Well,’ I said, knowing what had been preying on his mind for the last two weeks, and more particularly over the past fifty minutes, ‘it doesn’t look like cancer … I think everything’s going to be OK.’ All three of them sat back a little in their chairs as I said this, and the mother reached out for her son’s hand, and they smiled to each other. I felt considerable relief myself. I often have to reduce people to tears as they sit opposite me in the outpatient room.
