Schuld

My recent bedtime reading is Schuld of Ferdinand von Schirach.

The book is a tiny collection of impressive cases of a German lawyer. Most of the stories are very short; the description are sometimes fragmented but always precise - giving me an impression of reading clinical notes written by a sophisticated practitioner.

The last story of this book is, in my opinion, the funniest, and, is indirectly related to medicine. It reminds me of a patient I frequently saw in my general clinic some years ago:

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(In one of the typical clinic follow up session.)

The patient, an 80-year-old woman, came in with her son - an obviously well-to-do retired man with an obsessively-shaved face.

She sat down humbly in the chair next to me. Her son stood behind her.

"Good morning. How's everything going?" I asked.

In fact I knew the answer. She had diabetes - simple, straightforward, no complication, well controlled with a single tablet each day.

She did not reply - she did not have to. Her son showed me the recent home monitoring, record of symptoms, and other issues that he decided to bring up. The three of us reviewed the result of her recent blood tests. I asked if he had any difficulty taking care of his mother - so much so he might feel stress or other symptoms, or simply be too busy to take care of his beard.

He shook his head and left with his mother and the prescription.

I put down in her appointment sheet that she should have to see me next time.

(To be continued.)