surgery to remove the growing tumor mass from his
spine.Lazaroffchosesurgery.Myjob,astheinternon
the neurosurgery service, was to get his written
confirmationthatheunderstoodtherisksoftheoperation
and wished to proceed.
I’dstoodoutsidehisroom,hischartinmydamphand,
tryingtofigureouthowtoevenbroachthesubjectwith
him. The hope was that theoperation would halt the
progressionofhisspinalcorddamage.Itwouldn’tcure
him,orreversehisparalysis,orgethimbacktothelife
hehadled.Nomatterwhatwedidhehadatmostafew
months to live, and the procedure was inherently
dangerous.Itrequiredopeninghischest,removingarib,
and collapsing a lung to get at his spine. Blood loss
would be high. Recovery would be difficult. In his
weakened state, he faced considerable risks of
debilitatingcomplicationsafterward.Theoperationposed
athreatofbothworseningandshorteninghislife.Butthe
neurosurgeonhadgoneoverthesedangers,andLazaroff
hadbeenclearthathewantedtheoperation.AllIhadto
do was go in and take care of the paperwork.
Lyinginhisbed,Lazarofflookedgrayandemaciated.I
said thatI wasan intern andthat I’d cometo gethis
consentforsurgery, whichrequired confirmingthat he
wasawareoftherisks.I saidthat theoperationcould
remove the tumor but leave him with serious
complications,suchasparalysisorastroke,and thatit
could evenprove fatal. I tried to sound clear without
beingharsh,butmydiscussionputhisbackup.Likewise
whenhisson,whowasintheroom,questionedwhether