Charlie Rose

Grady Watts  07/24/2007 11:14 AM Report

An amazingly honest and informative exploration of a topic that most of us endeavor to avoid and for that reason are woefully unprepared when the grim news crosses our doctor's lips. Dr. Gruman was brilliantly honest about the limitations of her own pre-conceptions, though they were well-earned, coming from personal experience with 4 episodes of life-threatening illness. It would have been easy and convenient to claim authority on the basis of that experience and to pontificate, but she apparently allowed her interview subjects to challenge her hard-gained wisdom and to guide her to new veins of truth. This takes real courage and I for one salute her for that. I look forward to reading her book.

tevo durham  07/14/2007 02:26 AM Report

TO STAR.

i believe the lance armstrong comment referred to the meticulous nature of lance armstrong in appraoching and conquering his illness, much as he dominated the tour de france. ( as u know if u watch charlie long enough, lance is a favourite guest, and discussion of his relentless methods has been featured)

your point abt "the best doctor" is too true. however, i doubt whatever american insurer employed by charlie rose would cover Oversea emergency care. god knows they barely pay for the stuff that happens in the united states. something tells me c.r. wound up out of pocket - like alot of folks - ironic, given his high status economically.

did you see the mark halperin visit describing the upcoming election top issues as Iraq and National Health Care? it's a war out there AND over here .

our country really needs a solution on the medical services front. it's the war we absolutely must win.

Amy  07/13/2007 04:14 PM Report

One of the ways in which French doctors are different from their American counterparts is, that at least in my case , they expressed sympathy. Usually a mere "I'm so sorry" was often all that was said but what a world of difference it made. The doctors weren't divorced from their feelings or their compassionate natures, quite the opposite.

In America, I often feel as though doctors view themselves as highly educated, high priced mechanics. It's their job to to "fix" the body, but not to relate to the patient or make the process more humane and bearable. Hand holding, being so 19th century, mid-twentieth, at the latest.

Star  07/13/2007 12:20 PM Report

I really liked the part about how positive thinking--so often urged by docs and their staffs--is not intrinsically necessary for healing. The most moving line in Sicko, to me, was the doctor who told the woman, "Don't cry it will be all right." I have some medical issues and have gotten bad diagnoses, and no one ever says this--they say think positively. Oh, it went bad? Well, you didn't think hard enough.

I didn't get Charlie's refs to Lance Armstrong...name dropping?

Also, I loved how Charlie was going to get the best doctor in the world. Yeah, sure. What if that doctor is not in your network, or if you don't have a network you can't even afford to speak with the person for 15 mins. I wanted to talk with a doc at Mayo and the scheduler said, sure, send us $450 and will make an appt.

Anyhow, go, Jessie! You are helping so many people!

tevo durham  07/13/2007 01:44 AM Report

lively discussion between charlie and jessie gruman. my imagination or were sparks flying?

Amy  07/12/2007 06:55 PM Report

Delightful post, Glen!

Speaking of delightful, Charlie's interview of Jessica Gruman was a pleasure to watch. Her sense of humor and honesty about her experience and her compassion for others, in a similar situation, is welcome contrast to the sometimes less than fully humane experience of dealing with doctors.

One of the most difficult concepts for the individual to grasp, is that sometimes, there is no why. Or at least no knowable why.

The other issue that Jessica dealt with, which I very much appreciated, is the idea that positive thinking will bring about healing. Through my own personal experience and that of my friends and relatives who have had serious illnesses, I've come to see the unrealistic and unintentionally cruel effect that kind of mindset can have on the seriously ill.

When one is unable to make a tumor disappear through say, visualization, then that person is often left with a sense of failure and depression is often the result. They may feel that they've let down their friends and family, and on some levels they have, if their loved ones, on some level, believe that the patient isn't trying hard enough.

BTW, I lived in Paris during the summer of 2001. While I was there a medical problem cropped up that required surgery. I adored my GP, an elderly man who's office was a stone's throw from the Invalide, and that along with his connected apartment, took up the entire floor of the apartment building. His housekeeper would answer the door and show patients into a waiting room complete with marble fireplace, antique furniture, books, and art magazines. He made house calls, but he didn't like to answer questions. He would merely put his index finger to lips, as if I were a naughty child, and eventually, tell me what he thought I ought to know.

Because he was especially concerned about my condition, he told me to call him at home, over Bastille Day weekend, if I should have any problems, which in the end, did make up for his patriarchal attitude.

Being sick in France, is a book in itself.

Terrie Fox Wetle  07/12/2007 03:29 PM Report

I have had the opportunity to read "After Shock", and highly recommend it to anyone who is personally facing a devastating diagnosis or knows someone who is. Jessie Gruman's advice is intelligent, helpful and based on interviews with many people in similar situations. This is an important resource and I appreciate that more people will know about After Shock because of the Charlie Rose interview.

Terrie Fox Wetle, Ph.D.

Associate Dean of Medicine for Public Health

Brown University

Glen Comuntzis  07/12/2007 04:22 AM Report

Hi Charlie,

Per Ms. Gruman's work, I was with my now-late Norwegian Uncle Al,a former electrician, who, like fellow electricians of his era, was stricken with a fatal lung disease (from asbestos), when during what would be his last physical examination, his M.D., very solemnly told him that there was "nothing more" he could do for him, and that basically that he was going to die.

My 80+ year old, Uncle Al sat on the examination table; looked seriously at the doctor who was sitting in a chair at the end of that exam table; and in response to the terrible news from his M.D., asked with a sly grin, "so I guess you won't be prescribing that Viagra for me after all?"

His doctor first looked astonished, then slowly as the M.D. realized what Uncle Al had just asked, the M.D.'s body started to shake a little, and finally he broke out in a huge laughter, while Uncle Al sat there grinning from ear to ear knowing that he had just made THE terrible situation bearable for the doctor, and FUNNY in the face of his own mortality.

Uncle Al had asked me to be his executor of his estate when he died. One day, not long before his death, as by now he was tethered to an oxygen machine, but was still able to get around, Uncle Al called me on the phone and I heard him say, "I got a deal." I asked him what he meant by that, and he told me that he had spent the day calling around all the funeral service people in the Greater-Metro Portland, Oregon area, and found a service that upon one's death, they would come and get you; take you to a crematorium; cremate you; then bury you (he was a Vet, so to be buried in that cemetery), all for $600!

So, when the time came, and he did die in his favorite "easy chair" at home, true to their word, they came and got him, and within a couple of days he was placed in that cemetery among fellow "vets" where he got that final "DEAL!"

I not only learned about LIFE from that wonderful Norwegian uncle, but also about death, and HOW to do that, which is something about which we could all know more, so all of us could get a great "deal" on our way to the "great beyond!"

You would have liked our under-stated, but hilarious, Uncle Al, Charlie.

Thanks for your great programs.

Yours,

Glen Comuntzis

Portland, Oregon