in an instant, life changes

No hero in your tragedy No daring in your escape No salutes for your surrender Nothing noble in your fate The words drift over me and a sudden rush of emotion hits. I slam my fist down onto the counter top. The physical pain brings the emotional pain. The tears well up. I can only speak for myself, but I suspect there's a point in every doctor's training where one realizes that these are no longer abstract facts one is cramming. There are real lives involved. The stakes have been raised. I just got off the phone with my brother and his wife. What initially was supposed to be an MRI to diagnose a potentially herniated disk, turned out to be a life altering day for all involved. An abnormality was found in the 5th lumbar consistent with a neoplasm. Not what one wants to hear from a back doctor.