We may never know the answer to this important question.
On another point, Tiffany saying that her surgeon will continue to treat her like family does not reflect positively on the professionalism of her surgeon, unless he specifically told her the manner in which he will treat her like family. (such as, for example, frequency of visits, emotional involvement in her case despite perhaps his best efforts at detachment.)
Otherwise, a doctor saying that he is treating one particular patient like family implies that that doctor may be giving substandard care to others.
If the surgeon said he is treating her like family because he is seeing her almost as frequently as he sees family (because, of course, Miss Tiffany is fragile and demands his undivided attention and visits), that is OK because it doesn't imply that he gives better treatment to her than he gives to others--only that he is seeing her more. Also, maybe the surgeon said something similar to "I treat all of my patients like family--That's the type of doctor I am." and Tiffany being a subset of all of his patients, says "He will continue to treat me like family."
If a doctor, or anyone else, ever says to me "I will be treating you like family," I will then ask that person the following: "How is that different from how you will be treating others?" or, "Are you implying that you will be treating me better than you treat others?" (Though, the latter question is slightly accusatory in nature, so I would probably ask the former.)