Doc's Opinion

He sits across from me, his file glowing on the computer screen. Numbers everywhere: cholesterol edging upward, blood pressure leaning north, a family tree littered with cardiac potholes.
He leans forward, eyes narrowing.
“So, doctor—what are my chances?”
I recite the liturgy: statins cut relative risk by about 25%, blood pressure control lowers stroke risk by 30–40%. Add them up, and the curves bend favorably.
He doesn’t look reassured.
“Yes, but will it happen to me—or not?”

The room is silent except for the tick of the wall clock. A man lies in a hospital bed, motionless beneath starched white sheets.His hair is slicked back, his slippers placed neatly on the floor.His face is pale, but his eyes are quietly alert — not fearful, exactly, but watchful, as if trying to read … Read more