Gary Chmielewski, Md - Rush university medical center
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Most of our practice, we take care of patients with esophageal cancer or with lung cancer.
But there's also problems that aren't cancer that we treat too: people with reflux disease,
or benign problems of the lung, or other airway problems. We take care of those patients too.
As a surgeon, you're not just treating the patient, you're treating the whole family
because everybody's going to have perceptions and needs that you need to meet. I'm very
visual, so a lot of times I'll draw pictures and diagrams of the surgery and things to
try and explain it to them. And then when we're done, ask them if they have any questions,
and make sure that they heard what you're trying to get across to them.
One of the first patients I did a VATS lobectomy on in 1999 still sends me a golf gift every
year - whether it's a sleeve of golf balls, or a golf magazine or something - because
he's so appreciative that I got him back to his life quicker and got him back to his game
of golf. It means a lot to me because I know these people know I care about them when they
do those things. And that's what you try to get across to them.
