Table 3.

Retinologists’ emotions at first visit and at the beginning of the care relationship

At the first visit	A challenge for both clinician and patient 37%	– I thought that this visit was a challenge for us both: for her, it meant undergoing new tests and knowing the results; for me, it meant dedicating myself to another person to whom I could dedicate my care. I also thought that she might have access to treatment in the future, and I was ready and willing to facilitate this.(Parallel chart 007)
	Hope 30%	– I thought it was essential to follow her carefully from a clinical perspective, and that it was imperative to have a genetic test. When she showed it to me, I realized that she had a treatable mutation, which gave me hope.(Parallel chart 015)
	Sorrow 22%	– Poor child, he is not living his life like his healthy peers.(Parallel chart 002)
	Empathy with patient or caregiver 11%	– I thought that he was the same age as me, but that he had a completely different visual situation from mine. I stepped out of the treating doctor’s shoes, and I found myself projected into an essentially human dimension. I put myself in her shoes and listened to her story with my heart as well as my ears.(Parallel chart 006)
At the beginning of the care at the beginning of the care relationship	Emotional involvement and motivation 58%	– I was impressed by what I was seeing, powerless but at the same time full of motivation and hope. I knew the child’s mutation, and I imagined that—given his young age—he might have a therapeutic chance. I leveraged this last point in my talk with his parents, trying to give them a cautious hope and making them understand that this specific genetic mutation meant being severely visually impaired, but also the possibility of being cured in a not distant future.(Parallel chart 005)
	Helplessness 30%	– Despite my knowledge, I felt powerless, unable to give immediate and concrete answers to many of his practical problems.(Parallel chart 019)
	Sense of guilt 12%	– I felt ashamed… I’m lucky, I think I have a successful life, and yet I often get irritated or discouraged by stupid things, while he always seems happy to live his life, despite everything.(Parallel chart 021)