“I have a list”
The doctor sighs, she is familiar with lists.
“I thought it would save an argument”,
A nervous laugh, another sigh,
Mrs Damsel is here again this week.

Grey hair tied in a tight pony-tail,
Self-conscious, nervous, agitated,
Behind her, Roy Porter, the feeble partner shuffles in,
The list is handed over.

Gathering the information

Enumerated symptoms, capitals on stained paper,
Number one: my head pains,
Number two: the world spins,
Number three: I almost faint, quite often,
The list continues, for three more pages.

Dr Jones stares blankly,
Looks over at me,
Almost bides time, while she finds the words,
and the strength,
She too would like to avoid an argument.

Building the relationship

“It’s hard to know what to say, Miss Damsel,
You’ve seen a Neurologist, and a Cardiologist twice,
Dr Fry, Dr Rose, Dr Wiedermann,
After two ECGs, blood tests and an MRI,
I am not sure what I can do”.

This will not do, “I never had an MRI”
“Ah, I see in the notes, a CT, it is much the same”,
“And I never asked for the second ECG”
Roy mumbles, gazing at the floor,
“But you did my dear, you insisted”
“Well each one was too short, do you not agree?”
All eyes on the doctor,
“If you are asking for my medical opinion,
There is no pathology”.

It seems the consultation is a repeat,
Doctor and patient falling into their roles,
Mother and child,
Agonist and Antagonist,
Can there be a solution?

The symptoms may be real,
But they cannot be sorted into a condition,
Not in the way Miss Damsel demands,
Perhaps she knows, perhaps she likes this.

Explanation and planning

“I believe your symptoms are real,
I just don’t know what to do”
An honest explanation,“
I understand your distress;
many people have such symptoms,
Perhaps you focus on them more than other”
Is she lighting a fire?

“If you acknowledge that they’re real then do something”,
I need medical treatment, you don’t believe me,
Or maybe you like watching my pain,
You! You sit there so smugly”,
Desperate, desperately seeking help,
And yet she won’t listen.

Closing the session

“I think this is the end of the consultation, Miss Damsel”,
abrupt, but firm, and with reason,
they must have spent several hours in conversations like this,
“But there must be something you can do”,
“My hands are tied, you could approach someone else”
“If the symptoms are real, why can’t you do something?”
“Miss Damsel, we have finished”.