Serious Observations

Some conversations with my friend and colleague, Mark, led me to conclude the following (and I can change my mind at any time, by the way):

::When thrust into this situation, I don't think you need to relate to your surgeon. He may be as mad as a snake but as long as he's not a complete a-hole it doesn't matter. You're not going to need much in the way of bed-side manner at this stage since you're going to be asleep for the longest stretch of your relationship with him. You just need to be in agreement on a course of action, and for him to be a precision cutter with a meticulous eye for detail.

::You do need to relate to your oncologist. You're going to see him a lot, and during some very difficult times. More importantly, you need to relate to the oncologist's nurses. At the end of the day, you will be sharing the more personal (gross) details of your side effects with them. And, in general, they have had more intimate experience with more cancer patients for longer than anyone.

::This is a deeply personal experience. Although many people continue to volunteer tips and stories about their's (e.g., the drunk lady at the opening of the new Ann Sacks showroom last week whose eyelashes fell out and grew back twice, apparently), no one has had the same as mine. I guess it's the same with the disease itself - no two cancers are alike.

I shall opine about radiologists some time in the next few weeks when I might know what I'm talking about.