Anxiety is infectious. The conduct of a doctor can trigger a ripple of anxiety or inject a sense of order, even when the news is unpleasant. Bearing the scars of past illness, returning patients are especially not looking to be shielded from reality.
What they want is for someone to give bad news andremain steadfastly in their corner.
As is unfortunately the case for many, you can rain bad tidings on people but if you steer the conversation with calm, compassion and most of all, a sense of shared humanity, they will find their feet. This is the part that I have found surprising to predict and moving to absorb.
Lynch Syndrome Ireland 