Dr. Henry Forres Chambers, MD

My wife was admitted to the hospital with an illness that had been misdiagnosed. Dr. Chambers was the attending physician at that time and place. Eventually, my wife's condition was accurately diagnosed. As the attending physician, this is how Dr. Chambers delivered the news to me, standing in the hallway outside of her ICU room: (Chambers) -- "I'm pretty sure that your wife has stage-IV lung cancer, what's called 'adenocarcenoma of the lung', and that it's metastasized to her lymph nodes and her liver." (me) -- "Lung cancer?! How is that possible? She's never smoked, or even been around smokers, or air pollution!" (Chambers) -- "Oh, lots of people who've never smoked get lung cancer. My sister died from the very same thing." (me) -- nearly fainting There was no "You may want to sit down" first, no "I'm very sorry to have to tell you this", not even a "my sister was *diagnosed* with this", just "my sister died from it (and by implication, so will your wife)".… I wouldn't expect that kind of callous behavior from a car mechanic or a termite inspector, much less from a physician who is breaking the news to a husband that his wife has a very serious disease. "Bedside manner"? More like "graveside manner". Shame on Dr. Chambers for being so utterly unconcerned about the impact of his words and demeanor on people in emotionally difficult situations.