title: The diagnosis ... From the patient's point of view.
abstract: Systemic scleroderma takes a long time to declare itself. Processing the diagnosis also takes a long time. Physicians should choose their words carefully, even when speaking to medically educated patients. The scene in the doctor's office will get replayed many times before the facts sink in, and will ultimately be a factor in how the patient deals with the disease.
authors.affiliation: brietveld@aol.com
authors.forename: Barbara H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Rietveld
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011928:Raynaud Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*