Full Disclosure

Perform your medical duties calmly and adroitly,
concealing most things from the patient
while you are attending to him. Hippocratic Decorum

Maybe they have it right—
those who say the truth is too strong
for a person who’s sick.

Look at it this way, full disclosure
means telling you that some illnesses
elude all cures

that each life has a span
and yours may be short

that beneath the veneer of science
lies the bedrock
of uncertainty

that medical research
is not rocket science,
it’s infinitely more complex

that experts, like search engines,
traffic in theory, conjecture,
shaky data and sometimes outright hoax.

Now the good news:
you may recover despite stiff odds
the body is smarter than you can imagine

the world of health care
has fixers and healers—
what one can’t do the other can

This is the truth.
If you’re the sick person, sign below
to acknowledge receipt.

—-Veneta Masson