PATHOLOGY of DETROIT
I am sure many of you have heard me say that Detroit is not the most desirable location to live, but one of the best places to see pathology and learn medicine. This past week has confirmed that for me once again. Surgery was consulted to see a head and neck cancer patient, concerning the placement of a feeding tube into the pt's belly, so I went to the floor between surgery cases to meet the pt. What I found was truly a "Phantom of the Opera" picture. This pt has had face cancer for over a year, and has never been to an MD/DO for care. He is barely able to speak anymore as the tumor has completely overtaken the right side of his face from his eye ball to his jaw. This patient's tumor is equal to the worst cancers I have seen in Africa. This patient is a real lesson in the importance of building rapport and trust with your patient. He has a complete distrust of physicians, and believes that we are not there to serve his best interests. This patient has been cared for solely by a naturopathic physician, who unfortunately has done a disservice to this patient. I don't want to harp on alternative medicine, for I will be the first to say that it has its place in medicine, but when distrust of western medicine leads to the neglect of a patient's care something is clearly wrong. Not only is this patient in complete denial of the extent of his disease, but he was even slow to sign a consent form for the placement of the feeding tube because he thought we might harvest his organs. Everyday is a complete education for me!