Linda Joyce Beck, field herpetologist
Galapagos Islands, about 1985.
The tortise is Lonesome George, the last of his breed
You were supposed to kiss him on the forehead, for good luck.
She faked it.
It is approaching 900
outside and is supposed to get hotter later in the week. I just returned from Vista, near the coast,
where I had a very pleasant visit with my friends John and Joan McManus. John
and I played 18 holes of golf at the
Lawrence Welk resort. Yes, that Lawrence
Welk – the main drive through it is called “Champaign Boulevard” and when you
hit your initial drive you are enjoined to count your backswing-forswing rhythm by saying “ a onea twoa”. (Only people of approximately my age will
understand these references.) John shot
75 and I handily broke 100 with a 97. I
must admit, somewhat reluctantly, that par for the course was 61 – only par 3s
and par 4s. It is what is known as an
“executive course”, presumably because true executives are too busy to play the
longer versions. I played fairly well,
but at one point very nearly placed my drive in the lap of a nice lady reading
on her veranda. She was kind.
Anyway, what I want to write
about is an article in the NYTimes entitled “Widespread Flaws Found in Ovarian
Cancer Treatment”, brought to my
attention by – you guessed it – Dick Ingwall.
The gist of the article is that a significant study has shown that far
too many ovarian cancer patients receive treatment from practitioners that are,
to put it politely, not quite up to speed.
The recommendation is that such patients should go to a major cancer
center - think Fred Hutch – and not rely on their local gynecologist. They are urged to rely only on gynecological
oncologists who work at hospitals that perform
more than 20 ovarian cancer debulkings per year. Another recommendation is to use “IP
(intraperitoneal)” therapy whenever possible.
IP therapy is proven to be more effective, but few non-specialists even know about it. It has been recommended since
2006.
Linda had the benefit of a highly
accomplished gynecological surgeon, at the best place for treatment in the Pacific Northwest. Even so, she did not get complete “debulking” (which means the removal
of all the tumor visible to the naked eye.)
Neither did she have IP therapy.
The reason for both lf these departures from best practice was that she
had previously had major surgery – very major surgery – that had rearranged her
insides. Poor kid, she had to endure
four – no, five - major operations during the last five years of her life. Through it all she never complained. I think she was more concerned about how
Carolyn and I, and all her friends and relatives, were coping with her illness
than she was about the illness itself. I
didn’t deserve her.
If you want to read the article
for yourself, go to http://nyti.ms/Y6BSZc
I will leave for Bellingham on
March 26th.
A follow-up editorial in the NYTimes further analyses this problem (http://nyti.ms/13WUgel).
ReplyDeleteOf interest are some of the Comments. One theme seems to be that the problem arises because women are less valued by society than men. Do you buy that?
I buy that women are less valued than men in society. But I'm not sure that's the reason for the problem. Are you talking about women not going to major cancer centers for treatment, as the problem? Or something else? If I had ovarian cancer, I wouldn't WANT to have to go to Seattle for treatment, and I would only do it if someone told me I should. I think people don't know any better, think their oncologist in Bellingham is just as good as one in Seattle. They need to be educated.
ReplyDeleteI heard Lonesome George died a few years ago. The last of his species. You got to see him! Pretty cool.