Do experienced surgeons grieve over patients they lose or do they just move on to the next like nothing hapnd?

It is possible to care, but also to detach yourself so that you can go about doing your job. Experienced surgeons are people too, but they need to be professional when they are in the operating room or when talking to patients. They need to have that confidence and pass it on to their patients.

My son had four different surgeons . . and all of them were brutally honest, but you could tell they cared deeply about what might happen. I saw confidence, but fear as well. One of his surgeons declined to do the surgery because it was too complicated and rare, so she called her mentor in another state and arranged for him to go there. I never once felt coldness from any of them . . sorrow . .yes . . and hope . .yes . . but never callousness. I asked one of his surgeons point blank why he did this . . how could he do this . . and he told me that he was a surgeon because he hated cancer and what it did and he was almost in tears. He actually makes me smile even today . . because he operated on my son more than once and was really one of the more arrogant surgeons we met.He was all set to put a new central line in my sons chest and reassured us that it was a routine operation and the only concern would be if he accidently hit the lung. He reassured us that in 25 years of surgery he had never done that. A few hours later he came out and sheepishly told me that for the first time he had punctured the lung . .it would be okay . . but they just needed to monitor him for the night. We all got a good chuckle from it.

The surgeon who agreed to do the experimental abdominal surgery did so on a compassionate basis . . he fit my son into his schedule. And, from what I know of many other surgeons .. they also do this .. they know that in many cases they are the last resort for a patient with cancer.

So, in answer to your question . . surgeons, especially oncological surgeons do a specialized service .. they need to stay professional and focused in order to do this job and the best ones also have compassion for their patients and want to do the best job they can. They understand that it is a matter of life or death.

I am sure every patient that they have is very important to them, but also they explain the risks involved in the surgery they are having before they go under the knife.

The patient is usually aware of the dangers involved in the operation being performed, they realize there are risks and knows what they are before they enter the operating room.

My wife was diagnosed with cancer and her surgeon told her what the odds she had of living so many years. With or without treatment.

She chose treatment and surgery. It would have been very rare for her to have died having a mastectomy, but I am sure she could have if any complications occured.

The surgeon would have been sorry because he is extremely good at his job. My wife's death would have been tragic and it would have affected him terribly. Partly because it would have been totally unexpected because he does this type of operation hundreds of times a month.

I believe that if it had been a dangerous operation, and there was like a 25% chance of survival then we would know it going in. I believe that doctors know that these are people that care about others and want the best results. I believe they feel bad whenever somebody dies while being operated on. but they cannot stop doing their jobs because of it.

If it were me, I would have a hard time losing a patient. I would need to take some time off. I am sure that every death still hurts them, but they need to continue. What do you think?

my friend is a doctor. When she was in med school, she told me weird things. Like, she had to learn on cadavers, and while the professor was talking, she'd look at the cadaver and think to herself that the cadaver was someone's father, or brother, uncle, or son. She'd feel all sensitive about it. Also, she said it was weird to look at herself in the mirror, because she'd imagine and know what she looked like under her skin. It also bothered her when she worked in ICU, the nurses and doctors were so cold, like they got numb emotionally from being around this stuff for so long. I guess it depends on the person, my friend will probably always be sensitive to the needs of her patients, while others grow cold to it, if they weren't already cold to it from the beginning. By the way, she's a flight surgeon now for the air force, but wants to some day be an ob/gyn and deliver babies. Right now, the airforce tells her what to do, she doesn't choose.

I think it depends on the situation, the patient, the thing the sugeron is trying to fix. and the indivdual surgeon. I think if a surgeon looses someone on the operation table then it is a big blow to them and it might haunt them the rest of their life. or if it was something that htey did that caused the patient to die. But usually it probably doesn't effect them too much because they only perform sugery on that person, and nothing else.

Since being a physician is a caring profession I think that in my experience they do grieve over their patients. I have seen two doctors I know have mental breakdowns and one who is a closet alcoholic. All three were good and caring men who carried the weight of their patients suffering with them every day. Some doctors can brush it off and set the human part of the profession aside. Some do it to preserve their sanity, and others sub come to the weight of it all and destroy themselves.