Where's the popcorn?

One of the things that makes MD Anderson unique is the "It takes a village" approach. I have one coordinating doctor (the one who did my surgery) and a whole team of additional doctors, physicians assistants, and nurses all focused on my cancer.

Tomorrow will be one week after my thyroidectomy, and I have my first follow up appointment. Hopefully they will have the final pathology in so we will know where we go from here. The news so far has been positive, as no visible cancer was present outside of the thyroid gland. I like good news.

This time when I go to the hospital I will see a new doctor, an endocrinologist. I find it interesting that I won't see my surgeon again until November 4th. My guess is that he will pull all the reports together and help me make sense of it all.

Now there's an interesting thought. Make sense of it all? Cancer? Really? How? Cancer is an insidious disease that doesn't make sense. Maybe instead I should say that the doctor will help me put it into perspective. I think the biggest challenge for me is keeping this in perspective. In the beginning I was really scared, and now I find myself not worried at all. There is probably a healthy blend of both emotions somewhere in the middle, but I haven't found it yet.

I am reminded here of one of my favorite lines from the Summer Mummers Melodrama put on by volunteers every year in Midland, Texas. In every performance for over 60 years the heroine has delivered the line "Oh me, oh my, I know not how to act!" to which the audience (for over 60 years) has responded "You can say that again!"

Well, I know not how to act.