Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Another Kind of Tears


Tears are a fact of life in my business.  Parents cry when I tell them their child has cancer.  Children cry when they undergo painful procedures.  We all cry when a child dies.

But sometimes the tears are tears of joy.

Jade came to my clinic for another opinion.  She has a benign tumor, but it's in a bad place.  As I have shared before, sometimes it isn't better to have a "benign" tumor.  In order to remove Jade's tumor, she would need disfiguring surgery.  She and her father were told there was no choice.


Thankfully, they were told wrong.

Even though Jade's tumor is benign, it can be treated with chemotherapy.  It's a small tumor, and it's not causing her any symptoms right now.  Even if we can't make it go away, if we can keep it from growing, she will be fine.

After discussing her options, I asked Jade and her father if they had any questions.  Her father started crying, and then Jade did, too.  They were so relieved to have non-surgical options!


How nice to make someone cry tears of joy for a change.

Related Posts:
When Benign Isn't Better and Malignant Is Preferred
A Long Year for Mike
"I Don't Know How You Do Your Job"

14 comments:

rlbates said...

Hey for happy tears!

Cynthia Bailey MD, Dermatologist said...

This is lovely. The photos are too. Thanks for the happy thought and sweet story.

Alex Warren said...

Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see Life with a clearer view again

Budi Tanjaya said...

Hi Doctor David..

Lets exchange links!
i've put yours on my blog..

Sweet Lily said...

Cheers for happy tears!!
An inspiring blog, I enjoyed the visit. :)

Marianne said...

What a wonderful story! It's so encouraging to hear about doctors such as yourself who are knowledgeable enough about their field to provide options that less well-studied docs might not be aware of. I'm so glad that the little girl won't have to go through life disfigured!

Faiaz Agarwal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Valenty said...

Why you should always get a second opinion... so great.

Jupitor Chakma said...

Such a heart touching story. Yes tears of joy in somebody close to you brings tears (tears of joy) in your eyes too.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to leave an unrelated comment, but I tried sending you an e-mail and it said that your contact info was invalid. I’m wondering if you’d be interested in having a guest post on your site. Please drop me an e-mail at elizabethomalley39@gmail.com Thanks!

Anonymous said...

i want to be a pediatric oncologist.... i was googling about it and found your blog.......
i really like this blog, so lovely, emotional and everythong i want to see in my job.....

thank you so much for sharing you experiences with us........

Sally said...

I'm almost crying from reading! Yay for happy tears! So happy I found your blog, I'm a new certified medical assistant and I had a child patient die recently... it takes all kinds...

Anitaommer said...

Another great article. I like that you are very honest and direct to the point

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Children's Health Care said...

Up until a few decades ago, children were treated using the same methodologies and techniques that were used for adults and grown-ups. This was a nerve-wrecking experience for children.