Photo: P.13
I leaned back in my chair and breathed a heavy sigh. My patient, Mr. Rodriguez (not his real name), noticed my discomfort. “I know I should quit,” he told me with a guilty shrug of his shoulders.
“Have you ever tried?” I asked.
“Once,” he replied, “but it didn’t stick.”
Mr. Rodriguez had been a pack-a-day smoker for the past 20 years, something he’d only begrudgingly confessed in response to a standard inquiry I make of all my first time patients. He didn’t see it as a problem himself. Or at least he hadn’t mentioned it when I’d asked him at the beginning of the visit why he’d come to see me.
“Are you aware of all the ways cigarette smoking is bad for you?” I asked. Continue reading…
