[The story of suffering. On the traces of narrative medicine]

In recognising the importance of narratives of illness we conducted a study on the ability of a specific method to elicit the patient's story. A Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) interview was applied to 92 patients with a recent diagnosis of breast cancer. According to Mishler, a complete narrative has six elements: abstract, orientation, complicating action, evaluation, result and coda, with complicating action and evaluation as the essential parts. Of the 92 patients, 50 gave a narrative during the FMSS. One of the narratives is referred in detail. The article advocates giving renewed attention to patients' stories, because they bring the doctor closer to the patients' point of view. This is particularly important when dealing with chronic illness and crises.