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I believe listening is powerful medicine.

我相信傾聽是一劑良藥。

Studies have shown it takes a physician about 18 seconds to interrupt a patient after he begins talking.

研究表明，病人在開始說話大約18秒后，就會(huì)被醫(yī)生打斷。

It was Sunday. I had one last patient to see. I approached her room in a hurry and stood at the doorway. She was an older woman, sitting at the edge of the bed, struggling to put socks on her swollen feet.

那是個(gè)星期天，我還要去看最后一個(gè)病人。我匆匆向她的病房走去，然后在門口站定。那是一位老婦人，正坐在床邊，吃力地要把襪子套在腫起的腳上。

I crossed the threshold（門檻）, spoke quickly to the nurse, scanned her chart noting she was in stable condition. I was almost in the clear.

我走進(jìn)病房，迅速地和護(hù)士交代了幾句，看到老人的病歷上標(biāo)注著病情已經(jīng)穩(wěn)定，我就基本清楚她的身體已無大礙。

I leaned on the bedrail looking down at her. She asked if I could help put on her socks. Instead, I launched into a monologue（自言自語） that went something like this：“How are you feeling? Your sugars and blood pressure were high but they’re better today. The nurse mentioned you’re anxious to see your son who’s visiting you today. It’s nice to have family visit from far away. I bet you really look forward to seeing him.”

我倚靠在床欄上，低頭看著她。她問我能不能幫她穿上襪子，而我卻開始自言自語起來，大概是這樣說的：“你感覺怎么樣？你的血糖和血壓之前都很高，但今天好多了。護(hù)士說你的兒子今天來看望你，你很想見到他。有家人從很遠(yuǎn)的地方趕來探望真是太好了。我想你一定很期待見到他?！?/p>

She stopped me with a stern（嚴(yán)厲的） , authoritative voice. “Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not your story.”

她用嚴(yán)厲且充滿威嚴(yán)的聲音打斷了我：“請坐，醫(yī)生。這是我的故事，不是你的故事?！?/p>

I was surprised and embarrassed. I sat down. I helped her with the socks. She began to tell me that her only son lived around the corner from her, but she had not seen him in five years. She believed that the stress of this contributed greatly to her health problems.

我既驚訝又尷尬，只好坐了下來，幫她穿上襪子。她告訴我，她只有一個(gè)兒子，就住在離她家不遠(yuǎn)的街角，但是她已經(jīng)有五年沒見過他了。她覺得她的病主要是她和兒子間的緊張關(guān)系引起的。

After hearing her story and putting on her socks, I asked if there was anything else I could do for her. She shook her head no and smiled. All she wanted me to do was to listen.

聽完她的故事，給她穿好襪子后，我問她我還能為她做些什么。她笑著搖了搖頭。她只是想讓我聽聽她的故事。

Each story is different. Some are detailed; others are vague（模糊）. Some have a beginning, middle and end. Others wander without a clear conclusion. Some are true; others not. Yet all those things do not really matter. What matters to the storyteller is that the story is heard—without interruption, assumption or judgment.

每個(gè)人講述的故事都不一樣。一些故事非常詳盡，另一些故事則模糊粗略。有些故事完完整整，有開頭、經(jīng)過和結(jié)尾，另一些故事則有頭無尾。有些故事是真的，而有些是假的。然而，所有這些都不重要。對講述者來說，真正重要的是這個(gè)故事要有人去傾聽——不要打斷，不要臆測，也不要評價(jià)。

Listening to someone’s story costs less than expensive diagnostic testing but is key to healing and diagnosis.

傾聽別人的故事比昂貴的診斷測試花費(fèi)更少，但卻是診斷和治療的關(guān)鍵。

I often thought of what that woman taught me, and I reminded myself of the importance of stopping, sitting down and truly listening.

我經(jīng)常想起那個(gè)老婦人教我的道理。我時(shí)常提醒自己，要停下腳步，坐下來，認(rèn)真傾聽病人的故事。

And, not long after, in an?unexpected twist（出人意料的轉(zhuǎn)折）, I became the patient, with a diagnosis of?multiple sclerosis?（多發(fā)性硬化癥）at age 31. Now，20 years later, I sit all the time—in a wheelchair.

不久之后，在我31歲的時(shí)候，我沒有料到自己也成了病人，被診斷出患有多發(fā)性硬化癥。直到20年后的今天，我一直只能坐在輪椅上。

For as long as I could, I continued to see patients from my chair, but I had to resign when my hands were affected. I still teach med students and other health care professionals, but now from the perspective of physician and patient.

在得病后的很長一段時(shí)間里，我還堅(jiān)持坐在輪椅上坐診看病?？墒呛髞懋?dāng)我的手也受到疾病影響時(shí)，我就沒法再給病人看病了。如今，我仍然在給醫(yī)學(xué)生和其他醫(yī)療專業(yè)人士上課，但我不僅僅是從醫(yī)學(xué)的角度出發(fā)給他們授課，還會(huì)考慮到醫(yī)患關(guān)系。

I tell them I believe in the power of listening. I tell them I know firsth and that immeasurable（不可估量的） healing takes place within me when someone stops, sits down and listens to my story.

我告訴他們我相信傾聽的力量。我告訴他們，我親身體會(huì)過那種力量。當(dāng)有人停下來，坐到我身旁，傾聽我的故事時(shí)，我的內(nèi)心就會(huì)產(chǎn)生強(qiáng)大的力量，而這種力量足以治愈疾病。

傾聽是良藥，它能治愈心靈的創(chuàng)傷。

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