A senior government minister is among prominent politicians and health professionals urging the state government to reverse a decision to suspend breast screening services in NSW.
Playing with women s lives : Premier urged to keep breast screening services open smh.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from smh.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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If it were you at the receiving end of a prognosis that meant impending death, would you want your doctor to be brutally honest, or to emphasise your best-scenario prospects?
Breaking bad news – a terminal diagnosis, no less – is as daunting a job as there is in medicine, requiring doctors to consider everything from tone of voice, to eye contact, to how much information a shocked patient can (or should) absorb. Yet according to a leading oncologist, one of the simplest ways to mitigate the moment is considering where to stand when sharing a truth that no one wants to hear.
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In May 2013, Dasha Ross and her husband of 27 years, John Pinder, were preparing for a grand adventure. Ross is a well-respected documentary maker and Pinder was a prominent figure in the comedy and cabaret scene. In his prime, the producer was a big, ebullient man, famous for his signature giant yellow glasses, booming presence, and pack-a-day smoking habit. It was Pinder who co-created the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in the 1980s. There was nothing funny, however, about the news that lay in store.
So there they were, aged in their 60s, with their daughter grown up, free to do as they pleased. They had already run a hotel in Sri Lanka during a wild career change and now the scheme was to sell their house in Sydney, move to Barcelona indefinitely and set up an Airbnb business. âIâd just had a big 60th birthday party for 150 people,â recalls Ross. âI was on top of the world and so was John. One month later, he ha
Good Weekend Talks: oncologist Professor Fran Boyle on how doctors talk about death and dying smh.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from smh.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.