VinceInMT said...
Speaking of statements that can be unsettling, how do you feel when headed for a medical procedure and someone says “Good luck.” I understand their intent but the phrase can have some unintended meanings.
There certainly is an element of “luck” in any medical surgery/procedure. Some might call it the “human factor.” Personally, I’d accept the statement of support, reassurance and encouragement as it was intended.
Once one normalizes “skill,” there is (IMHO) still “luck” which one might still wish for. I’ll give this example: While this happens more frequently with less skilled/experienced surgeons, even the very best sometimes cause an unintentional nick, or cut, into the prostate during RP. Unfortunately, this gets reported in the surgical pathology report as a PSM…which is inevitably going to result in significant (for many men) unnecessary anxiety for the patient for years to come. It’s the human factor…luck.
This example, BTW, happens more frequently than many realize (look it up). Envision the low-risk guy who goes forward with RP and ends up with a PSM. More often than not, afterwards he’s counting his blessings that he had an RP when he did—and often then becomes a voice to others similar low risk cases saying “look at what happened to me”—when in reality he probably would have been better going on AS instead and completely avoiding the cascade of unintended/unnecessary consequences. Bad luck.
Post Edited (Casey59) : 2/6/2024 8:06:51 AM (GMT-8)