The importance of listening

When I was a second year medical student my father was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour of the pancreas. Chemotherapy provided some symptomatic relief, but two months after the end of the course of treatment he developed heart failure as a side effect, and he was quite limited in his activity. During his chemotherapy he had continued his job as a director of a large organisation, but when he developed heart failure he took retirement.

Within a few months it was clear that he was terminally ill, …