Once Dr. Mellinkoff invited me to join him at the hospital to discuss interesting cases with his students . The case at hand was a Guatemalan man , aged 34 , who had a fever and many other medical problems . His condition was not improving , and there was not much hope he would live . Dr. Mellinkoff asked to see the patient . He introduced himself in Spanish and , in a very gentle voice , asked how he felt . The patient smiled and said everything was all right . Then the doctor asked if he was able to eat . The patient said that he had no desire to eat . " Are you getting food you like ? " The patient said nothing . " Do you get the kind of food you have at home ? " The answer was no . The doctor put his hand on the man's shoulder and his voice was very soft . " If , you had food that you liked , would you eat it ? " " Yes , yes . " the patient said . The change in the patient's appearance couldn't have been more obvious . Nothing was said , but it was easy to tell that a message had been sent and had also been received . Later , the doctor asked why the Guatemalan man wasn't getting food he could eat . One of the students said , " We all know how difficult it is to get the kitchen to make special meals . " " Suppose , " the doctor replied , " you felt a certain medicine was  ly necessary but that our hospital didn't carry it , would you accept defeat or would you insist the hospital meet your request ? " " I would probably insist , " the student said . " Very well , " the doctor said . " You might want to try the same method in the kitchen . It won't be easy , but I can help you . Meanwhile , let's get some food inside this man as fast as possible , and stay with it . Or he'll be killed by hunger . By the way , there must be someone among you who can speak Spanish . If we want to make real progress , we need to be able to talk with him . " Three weeks later , Dr. Mellinkoff told me that the Guatemalan man had left the hospital under his own power . It takes more than medicine to help sick people ; you also have to talk to them and make them comfortable . According to the passage , we can conclude that   _   .
the patient was from another country . the patient's illness was caused by hunger Dr. Mellinkoff performed an operation on the patient the hospital failed to provide the right medicine for the patient