Grateful

"As you are grateful, to that precise extent you are happy."
-Aaron Freeman

Each office visit began and ended with a hug, a gymnastics event since I am 6'2" and she was just shy of 5' tall. She declared her affection for all of the staff and was truly grateful to be a survivor. She viewed each day of her cancer-free life as a gift. I had always felt gratified that our treatment had controlled her disease, but struggled to understand the side effects and their impact on her quality of life.

Many years ago, her entire tongue had been removed, and she had undergone an elegant oral cavity reconstruction using skin and muscle from her arm.

She persevered through six weeks of radiation treatments and months of rehabilitation. She was cured of the cancer, but, despite our efforts to put things back together, she had never been able to swallow. Her speech had always been very difficult to understand, and she became frustrated whenever people lacked patience with her when she was speaking.

An expensive dental rehabilitation program improved her appearance but did nothing for her ability to eat. To make things worse, the family had endured battles with insurance companies and employers. The difficult treatment and its aftereffects still reverberated fifteen years later.

Recently, her image had popped into my mind while I participated in a national strategy session determining the next generation of cancer research trials. One of the proposed studies would address advanced tongue cancers using newer, non-surgical techniques. I realized that if my long-term survivor had developed her cancer a few years later, she would have been eligible for such a trial. Her life might have been so different! Because of my interactions with her, I supported the trial enthusiastically and looked forward to getting her reaction.

I never had the opportunity. The day I returned home, I learned that she had died unexpectedly of heart disease. Our thoughts immediately go to her family. In addition, though, our thoughts go to the other people who will develop these cancers in the future. The legacy of the cancer patient should always be the lessons they teach us so that we continually offer better care to the next person. For this and many other reasons, I will forever be grateful to have known her.

Bruce H. Campbell, MD, FACS
Professor of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences
Chief, Division of Head and Neck Oncology
Interim Director, Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center

"Reflections" is a collection of essays by the health professionals of the Medical College of Wisconsin.