When getting cancer results over the phone is a good thing
Friday, March 6, 2009 - 18:56
in Mathematics & Economics
Far from being an impersonal gesture, the chance to hear the bad news right away, followed soon after by a doctor's appointment, can help prepare patients for the rough road ahead. I had the sense to pull my car over to the side of the road when I heard the surgeon's voice on my cellphone. It was a stunningly beautiful September morning, and I tried to keep anxiety over the biopsy at bay. His initial words, "We have an unpleasant surprise," brought an abrupt end to such efforts. It was there, in my car, on the side of the road, that I became a cancer patient.