Life's little problems. I have always insisted that patients be treated with utmost respect and dignity. Now, I have justification. When one is sick, and fixated on the ordeals of therapy, illness, and his livelihood, these preoccupations make him more vulnerable, more edgy, and less capable to cope with the minor indignities that are part of daily life. Small things become hurtful.
Little things become issues.
If we can minimize these problems for our patients, we can make their lives so much easier. Gaining an appreciation of this through my own illness has given me a much better understanding about how to accept the differences in how patients sometimes react to life's little problems. The doctor as a patient. No doubt I was. Being a patient requires handing over a certain level of control.