Support for LateToSchool

binx · March 15, 2008, 9:38am

Yes, I am also wondering what LTS’s physicians are saying about this.

Kelowna · March 15, 2008, 9:42am

LTS, are you sure the woman in question is not a physician/radiologist?
From my understanding the way things work in our state, she would have to be.
This of course does not change the matter.
I admire you are so assertive:-)

busyparent · March 15, 2008, 9:46am

I misunderstood the nature of the mistake and certainly understand the need for the administrators to be held accountable. I can now see that this is energizing for you and thus a good thing.

I was worried that it would be a drain on the energy needed to fight the bad guys growing in various places in your body and thought perhaps your support group could fight the battle with the hospital.

latetoschool · March 15, 2008, 9:48am

I am confused about that as well. The lawyer with me Friday, the policy wonk, asked me, how does this happen - is the non-doctor administrator in the department responsible for cost/profit? Neither of us understand and we both want to understand. My doctor simply said “clerical error”, however, it was clear to me that he was rather embarrassed, as well. So part of what I hope to be able to gain understanding about on Monday is how, exactly, the order changed, and who decides - what is the decisioning process? Did the non-doctor administrator make the call, and does this person have the authority to do so? If so, why does this person have the authority to tell a doctor what to do?

I do know that whole brain radiation is a common procedure, however, I have studied the ASCO reports; I’ve read JoCO, I have talked to numerous caregivers, etc., and, I am very, very opposed to this treatment for my condition, as I understand it based on my most recent scans.

Speaking further with the doctor, after the CT staging, I expressed to him even more vehemently my opposition to whole brain radiation. Although he fully supports my treatment choice (as does the neurosurgeon, and my oncologist), he is not in complete agreement with my opinion of the dangers of whole brain radiation. I expressed to him (again and again) my concern about loss of cognitive functioning, etc.; his opinion is that it is the little-understood and under-studied impact of some chemotherapy drugs crossing the blood-brain barrier and causing CNS impairment, not whole brain radiation.

In any case, on Monday, I will have explanations.

Kelowna: yesterday, I verified that this person is not a doctor. Her title though is director of radiation oncology. Odd, that she is (evidently) making decisions for doctors…

Busyparent, I get you regarding allocation of my resources. But it so terribly critical to any chance I have to beating this disease that I have a very high degree of confidence in my medical team. I absolutely adore my oncologist - he obsesses over every detail of my treatment. You should just see the wild notes and chicken scratch he leaves all over every single line item of my weekly CBCs. He positively reacts instantaneously if any one aspect is even slightly off. He demands wet reads on every single scan. Never have I had a doctor obsess over me so closely. I also have a very high degree of confidence in the neurosurgeon, the radiation oncologist, and the peripheral physicians who are in charge of various aspects of my care. But people who lie - and who when caught, continue to lie, and then avoid responsibility - and then blame others - and then try to get out of it with the least possibly amount of effort (“we fixed it all now and it’s all better, o.k.?”) scare the living daylights out of me. I am terrified at the prospect of arriving for my cyberknife treatment and someone “accidently” radiates my brain, without my consent. And if you think about it, how would I actually know the difference? And if I cannot control this off-track train, considering my resources, how in the world does the more average, less assertive patient do so???

nameneeded · March 15, 2008, 9:58am

“If a lab insists on payment up front rather than going through the insurance billing procedures, they can get away with charging $500 for services that insurance pays $375 for. If the bill never gets sent to the PPO… the patient never knows… and in fact the $500 never gets applied to the deductible.”

The echo may have cost even more than 500 and this was the percent owed. The subscriber needs to make sure that this is what eventually is on her explanation of benefits. Even if the facility participates with the PPO, it can still collect for what they are told is not covered, and it sounds like in this case they called the insurance company to check this. Many PPO insurances have deductibles. Where I live, Blue Cross sells plans that go from zero to 5000 a year deductible.

I do not want to take up this thread discussing the details of insurance billing, which I did for decades, as it will take away from the intent which is to provide support for latetoschool. We could discuss how universal government health insurance is different from private insurance billing, but that too is another topic.

Suffice it to say that I wish latetoschool well, and am very happy that she has good insurance and knows how to handle the hospital administrators well.

mythmom · March 15, 2008, 10:36am

LatetoSchool: I think you are completely on the right track. I am so naive that I am utterly shocked that treatment could be changed in this way, especially about something as critical as brain radiation.

This is completely insupportable. I think we should have standards that would remove this woman from her job.

epistrophy · March 15, 2008, 10:56am

lung cancer in TV-land: Breaking Bad

[AMC</a> » About the Show](<a href=“AMC | Watch TV Shows & Movies Online | Stream Current Episodes”>AMC | Watch TV Shows & Movies Online | Stream Current Episodes)

[Walt’s</a> Wisdom - Blog of Walter White](<a href=“waltswisdom.com”>http://www.waltswisdom.com/)

Walter White (Malcolm in the Middle’s Bryan Cranston) is a weary high school chemistry teacher with a bad mustache, a middle-aged, suburban drone. Until he’s diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

This sets him free. Or free enough to get into the crystal-meth business in order to raise enough money for his wife (Deadwood’s Anna Gunn, nicely grumpy) and cerebral palsy-afflicted son (RJ Mitte, nicely smart-alecky) to live on after he croaks, and for him to have a few thrills while he’s at it. Walt partners with grungy teen meth-head Jesse (Big Love’s Aaron Paul), who’s trying to launch his own tweak factory. With Walt’s chemistry expertise, they cook up primo ice that attracts both profits and murderous enemies.

Breaking Bad is created by Vince Gilligan, who helped oversee some of The X-Files’ most witty-rococo episodes (‘‘Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space,’’’ fans?). This is AMC’s stab at a Showtime-y, Weeds-like series which could have stunk. Instead, there are some twists you’ll never see coming, and Cranston gives the kind of shaded, comic-dramatic performance that always bubbled just below the surface of his manic Malcolm dad. Breaking Bad mixes desperation and deviousness to yield a volatile, valuable product. B+

[Breaking</a> Bad | TV Review | Entertainment Weekly](<a href=“http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20170018,00.html]Breaking”>http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20170018,00.html)

[Breaking</a> Bad On Demand - AMC TV: Breaking Bad](<a href=“http://blog.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2008/01/breaking-bad-on.php]Breaking”>http://blog.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2008/01/breaking-bad-on.php)

[Breaking</a> Bad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad]Breaking”>Breaking Bad - Wikipedia)

calmom · March 15, 2008, 6:22pm

I dunno, Epistrophy… I’ve watched Breaking Bad and I absolutely love the show, but I think it presents a blue print of what not to do in response to a lung cancer diagnosis. I can’t imagine anyone making a series of choices more horribly wrong than the Bryan Cranston character, who basically decided to behave as if he were already dead … (though I’m sure LTS might enjoy fantasizing about punctuating her confrontation with the radiation oncology director by flinging a home-brewed explosive around her office…)

calmom · March 15, 2008, 6:48pm

Mythmom, as I said… I think this is probably typical – and I doubt that the administrator will get in serious trouble, at least not in the short run. Here’s where the problem lies:
From an interview with Dr. Donald Fuller (2007) [Outpatient</a> Care Technology - Article - Armed and Dangerous Against Tumors](<a href=“http://new.reillycomm.com/outpatient/article_detail.php?id=463]Outpatient”>http://new.reillycomm.com/outpatient/article_detail.php?id=463) :

The main caution I would supply to others contemplating the purchase of the CyberKnife system is that it is complex and expensive technology, with a limited patient throughput capability, which is really only suitable for ‘ablative’ radiosurgical-type dosing. It is primarily complementary rather than a replacement for other radiotherapy systems, and is best deployed in a practice that is large enough to support such an expensive, complicated and specialized application. Billing rules and insurance coverage may also be complex, so a potential CyberKnife purchaser also needs to be very aware of how their payer mix may react to the technology. One problem is that this technology is so new there is still a relatively small (although growing) literature base of support – a fact often used by insurers to deny coverage of the CyberKnife procedure.

Quite simply, the administrator probably knows from experience that it is hard to get insurers to pay for the cyberknife… so she changes the order to the procedure she knows that the insurer will cover. When LTS balks… she demands $3K up front – that is enough to intimidate most patients and get the message across. (You want it? You pay for it).

The administrator’s banking on no one noticing or objecting, having already categorized LTS as the type of patient that doesn’t represent much of a risk of financial liability because of the poor prognosis. (In a civil suit, to get money damages, the patient or the family of a deceased patient needs to be able to prove that the malpractice was a proximate cause of the damage sustained – it would be an uphill battle to try to prove in court that the cyberknife would have worked in a case where the whole brain radiation doesn’t… and if the whole brain radiation did “work”… then there would be no “damages”… and even LTS’s own doctor says that you can’t know whether loss of cognitive function is due to the brain radiation or the chemotherapy. LTS can kick & scream, but she probably can’t win a lawsuit for money damages … and the hospital administrator knows that).

epistrophy · March 15, 2008, 6:52pm

calmom: I wasn’t meaning to suggest that Breaking Bad would provide any sort of roadmap for how one should handle such a diagnosis. (Heck, I haven’t even seen the show.) I doubt if I’d look to an afternoon soap opera for tips on how to handle my marriage, either. It just sounded pretty darn intriguing and at least tangentially relevant here, if only from a pop culture standpoint.

I’ve represented plenty of drug dealers in my time. But a mild-mannered-high-school-chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-dealer-after-being-diagnosed-with-lung-cancer? My clients, alas, usually don’t fit that profile.

calmom · March 15, 2008, 6:57pm

As to qualifications to be a Radiation Oncology Director… I looked up some job listings on line – MD not required:

Job listing site: [Director</a> Of Radiation Oncology Jobs | Juju Job Search](<a href=“http://www.job-search-engine.com/keyword/director-of-radiation-oncology]Director”>Director Of Radiation Oncology Jobs | Juju - Smarter Job Search)

Sample listings:

“Must have a strong background in clinical operations (marketing the clinic, handling budgets and medical billing)… College Degree is required and Masters in Health Administration a plus”
[GadBall</a> Jobs | RADIATION ONCOLOGY CENTER MANAGER: Radiation Oncology Center](<a href=“http://www.gadball.com/Jobs/Details.aspx?sid=22&jID=12939169&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1]GadBall”>http://www.gadball.com/Jobs/Details.aspx?sid=22&jID=12939169&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1)

“Degree Required: M.B.A.”
[‘Director</a> of Radiation Oncology’ in PHILADELPHIA, PA posted by Cancer Treatment Centers of America](<a href=“http://jobcircle.com/classifieds/1044443.html?source=xml_juju_080109]'Director”>http://jobcircle.com/classifieds/1044443.html?source=xml_juju_080109)

“Bachelor’s degree from four-year college or university … Knowledge and familiarity with business and financial management of cancer services and reimbursement. … Strong and significant experience with a full range of financial operations (i.e. revenue generation, expense management, budget preparation, cost containment).”
[Untitled</a> Page](<a href=“http://www.allhealthcarejobs.com/aspx/JobPostingView.aspx?ja=juju&jobid=116242]Untitled”>http://www.allhealthcarejobs.com/aspx/JobPostingView.aspx?ja=juju&jobid=116242)

Any remaining questions about what this job entails?

latetoschool · March 15, 2008, 6:59pm

I’m very glad my doctors do not share her view of my prognosis.

calmom · March 15, 2008, 7:16pm

Epistrophy, my reply wasn’t meant to attack you – it was kind of tongue-in-cheek – but I had thought about mentioning the show before and decided against it because it is very dark humor based on an even darker premise that may not seem at all amusing to someone actually facing similar problems in real life. And trust me… if you watch this program you will discover that the only consolation you would have as a defense lawyer is that if you could delay things long enough, your client wouldn’t survive until trial. (Note to LTS: that’s because the tv character is not exactly cooperative in any treatment plan).

Basically, the guy will be facing capital charges if & when he gets caught. More likely the script writers will have him die in a dramatic hail of police bullets (suicide-by-cop) if the show continues into a 2nd season - I frankly can’t see any other resolution. Either that or he will have to wake up at the end and discover it was all a dream. (If you want more info, send me a PM – I don’t want to post spoilers, as the entire first-season series of episodes will be rebroadcast on AMC beginning this Sunday night).

Anyway, fans of Coen brothers movies & X-Files will probably like this show.

calmom · March 15, 2008, 7:18pm

LTS, I have a feeling that the administrator doesn’t even share your doctors’ view that you are a person. She is probably all about $ signs – you are either an “expense” or a source of “revenue” depending on how well she “manages” your treatment.

mythmom · March 15, 2008, 7:36pm

Yeah, I think I’ve been living in some fantasy Universe.

Thanks, calmom, for all your explanations.

LTS: Thinking of you as always.

epistrophy · March 15, 2008, 7:37pm

calmom: No, I certainly didn’t interpret your post as any sort of an “attack.” (And my response, re not watching a soap opera for tips on married life, was also meant tongue-in-cheek.) Sometimes, it seems, tone gets lost on the screen.

epistrophy · March 15, 2008, 8:20pm

more lung cancer “survivors”

[L]ocal lung cancer survivors Cathy Bernas of Warrenville, Janeen Mills of St. Charles and Robert “Mac” McWherter of Elk Grove Village, say there is life after a lung cancer diagnosis.

<hr>

Warrenville Resident Attests To Life After Diagnosis

When Dana Reeve, the wife of former Superman actor Christopher Reeve, announced last summer she had lung cancer, the diagnosis, seven-month battle and outcome seemed particularly cruel. She had never been a smoker.

Neither had Bernas, a 41-year-old mother of four who was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer at the beginning of 2005. Studies show that like Reeve and Bernas, nearly 20 percent of all lung cancer casesone in five—are non-smokers. While lung cancer rates among women are on the decline, Bernas was not one of the lucky ones.

Besides smoking, risk factors for lung cancer also include family history and exposure to environmental pollutants, especially secondhand smoke and radon, an odorless natural gas that seeps into homes from the soil. But thousands of cases, like Bernas’, elude explanation.

According to the experts, the good news is that female lung cancer patients tend to survive longer, despite grim overall survival rates—nearly 60 percent die within a year of diagnosis and 85 percent within five years. Targeted new chemotherapies seem to work well in women and other drugs on the horizon also offer hope.

“It was fatigue and shortness of breath which first sent me to the doctor,” recalls Bernas, an active Johnson Elementary School and PTA volunteer who calls her home a place to hang out for neighborhood kids and the schoolmates of her 14, 12, nine and five-year-old children. “The doctor suspected pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics, but a chest x-ray told a different story. My left lung was three-quarters full of fluid and subsequent testing yielded shocking results. I had lung cancer.”

Her stage four lung cancer diagnosis included news of the tumor’s inoperable status and cancer spread to her liver, abdomen and lymph nodes.

“The news media reports regarding Dana Reeve’s death didn’t give much hope or encouragement to those of us nonsmokers living with lung cancer,” says Bernas, a 15-month lung cancer survivor. “It made me mad to read stories reporting that very, very few people are able to live for a year after being diagnosed with lung cancer. I’m just an ordinary mom of four active kids, wife of a wonderful man, and someone with no extraordinary medical research available to me.”

Bernas says she initially was ready to prepare for the worst. A local pulmonologist predicted she had less than two years to live. That’s when she sought a second opinion at Loyola University Medical Center. Kathy S. Albain, M.D., a Loyola hematology/oncology specialist and professor of medicine, offered a more encouraging diagnosis.

After initial standard chemotherapy failed, Bernas was given the drug, Tarceva. When Tarceva failed to provide favorable results, she was placed on Alimta, a cancer drug approved in 2004.

She credits her family, oncologist and medical technology, the decision to seek a second opinion, a strong faith, the kindness of friends and neighbors, and a special St. Irene’s parish cancer support group for helping her deal with cancer as “the chronic illness it is today.”

“Chemotherapy may be an inconvenience, but it is keeping me alive,” says the former preschool teacher. “My five-year-old doesn’t remember a time before cancer and I am grateful for the time I have.”

Fifteen months after first hearing of her fateful diagnosis, Bernas says she feels wonderful and is back to school volunteerism planning a teacher appreciation celebration and lending a hand in the lunchroom. Her hair, lost to chemotherapy, is growing back curly and thick. The Bernas kids, who understand mom’s illness and have been part of the healing process, are doing well and back to enjoying popular sleepovers—except for the three days following mom’s chemotherapy treatment.

After completing her first American Cancer Society Relay For Life event at the College of DuPage last year, Bernas says she is thrilled to have her husband, Rob, and children join her in this year’s walk.

Knowing The Risks & Beating The Odds

Janeen Mills, a St. Charles mother and Harris Bank administrative specialist, says she still can’t bring herself to say “the word.”

Diagnosed with lung cancer three years ago, Mills says today she is feeling fine and grateful to her nearby Delnor Hospital doctors.

“But that word engenders a feeling of finality,” admits Mills, a former smoker. “I remember taking antibiotics for what seemed like an ongoing bout with bronchitis. After looking at my CT scan, even the radiologist admitted I was in trouble.”

That “trouble” included the discovery of multiple tumors in her lung’s right lobe. Doctors recommended three to four months of chemotherapy to combat her newly-diagnosed and aggressive small cell carcinoma.

“They were right,” says Mills, whose father and an uncle both died of lung cancer. "The tumors did get smaller in size. Chemotherapy was stopped in mid-cycle when I developed an aortic aneurysm and required leg surgery. And because this type of cancer spreads easily to the brain, they also followed up with 60 daily radiation therapy treatments targeting specific brain areas.

Another survivor, Robert “Mac” McWherter, an Elk Grove Village resident, avid photographer and father of four, says his lung cancer diagnosis in November, 2003 came as a huge and devastating shock.

“I’d had a cough all summer which seemed to come and go,” recalls McWherter, a former smoker who had kicked the habit more than 26 years earlier. "With no cancer history, both my doctor and I first assumed it must be bronchitis. The doctor prescribed a chest x-ray just as a precaution. A spot on the x-ray and later CT scan images of a mass, ultimately led to my diagnosis.

McWherter and his wife of 26-years, Eileen, consulted with a lung specialist who ordered a bronchoscopy to gather biopsy information. The surgeon who reviewed the CT scan and the chest x-ray gave McWherter a "grim² prognosis with a diagnosis of lung cancer on the day before Thanksgiving, 2003.

“We were stunned by the results,” says McWherter, who recalls smoking up to a pack a day of cigarettes for nearly 20 years and waking up to a cloud of secondhand smoke every morning as child. “Things happened very quickly after that.”

At nearby Alexian Brothers Medical Center, an oncologist prescribed two cycles of chemotherapy lasting one and one-half years, culminating in March, 2005. A subsequent CT and PET scan showed the spot had shrunk to the point that McWherter had the option for surgery.

“It was a miracle,” he states.

It’s now been just a little more than a year since McWherter had the upper lobe of his left lung surgically removed, Further surgery this past February enabled surgeons to remove old lesions and scar tissue that were clouding imaging attempts.

“Initially I was devastated,” admits the CCH, Inc. computer systems analyst. “But for some reason I have also been blessed. Every step of my treatment has worked out well and I’m especially grateful to my family and doctors for their support and expertise.”

McWherter says he’s also found support at Wellness Place, a community-based cancer resource center in Palatine offering a variety of programs and services especially for cancer patients and their families. He is a faithful attendee at their bi-monthly men’s support group led by Dr. Harvey Wolf, clinical psychologist, and Charlie Stephens, facilitator, and has participated in on-site medical self-hypnosis, guided imagery, healing touch and massage programs.

Together the family, including wife, Eileen, and son, Brian, a senior at Driscoll Catholic High School, recall attending a “warm fuzzies” Wellness Place workshop where families made fleece blankets. McWherter also is back to his photography hobby and looking forward to participation in his third annual ACS Relay For Life event June 9 and 10 at Elk Grove High School.

[Daily</a> Herald Cancer Survivors](<a href=“http://www.dailyherald.com/special/cancersurvivors/2006/index.asp?id=7]Daily”>http://www.dailyherald.com/special/cancersurvivors/2006/index.asp?id=7)

epistrophy · March 16, 2008, 8:17am

another lung cancer “survivor”

“Dance to your health”

No one could agree with her more than local ballroom dance teacher and cancer survivor Suzy Robbins.

I dont believe I would have made it through (cancer) without dancing, says Robbins, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and endured chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. The next year brought yet another challenge a lung cancer diagnosis resulting in surgery to remove half of her left lung. 

Miraculously, Robbins survived against the odds, and her cancer has been in remission for more than two and a half years. What is her secret? Quite possibly, ballroom dancing.

Mentally, ballroom dancing was my salvation. If your mind is busy, you cant dwell on your next chemo treatment or if you will get (cancer) again, Robbins says. 

According to researchers, ballroom dancing does more than occupy time. It can make a dancer more fit than most high-impact athletics and lower the risk for diseases of the mind, such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers.

Studies suggest that 30 minutes of continuous dancing can burn up to 400 calories, which is comparable to jogging. Robbins considers the physical aspects of dancing to have played an important role in her cancer survival. I believe being healthy made the difference, she says.

[Dance</a> to your health | TimesDaily.com | Times Daily | Florence, AL](<a href=“http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061115/SHOALS/70611018/-1/SHOALS20&template=printart]Dance”>http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061115/SHOALS/70611018/-1/SHOALS20&template=printart)

epistrophy · March 16, 2008, 4:46pm

the small screen: another series where the lead character has cancer

“Skimp on the Champagne? Not This Cancer Patient”

The premise of Terminal City a cancer patient is hounded by the producers of a reality TV show sounds as though it were something out of bad experimental theater. Right away you suspect an agenda. An award-winning Canadian mini-series being shown Thursdays on the Sundance Channel, Terminal City leads you to wonder if it might be trying to right the wrongs of so many years of Survivor and its culturally malignant offspring. I feared the worst: something that sought to tell us just how misplaced our priorities are.

Terminal City is instead an imaginative dramatization of illness that doesnt indict or wallow or submit to the clichés it teases us with. Katie Sampson, played by the sensual Maria Del Mar, is a 40-ish mother of three who reacts to a diagnosis of breast cancer by submitting to entreaties that she star in Post Op!, a failing reality television show set in a hospital. Maria turns out to be beguiling on camera; she is beautiful and blithe, talking about her tumor as if she were dealing with nothing more than a poor credit rating. Before long she gets her own talk show, and soon she isnt merely sick; shes famous and sick.

Since the 1970s, cancer-themed television movies have followed a familiar pattern: tracking a sufferers trajectory from anger to courageous response. After the glasses are smashed and the vases are thrown, the lead, almost always a woman, arrives at a kind of emboldened self-understanding that makes us wish we were all held together with the same powerful glue.

Cancer is too ubiquitous to think about in purely ennobling terms, and whats remarkable about Terminal City, and also about Breaking Bad, the AMC series about a middle-aged man whose lung cancer drives him to drug dealing, is the denial of all that optimism. From adversity, heroism does not always derive. Sometimes when people get very sick, they blunder about, distracting themselves as giddily or grimly as they always have.

Terminal City is at its most interesting as a study of avoidance. Katie is comfortable in the world of reality TV because she swerves from reality. When she learns that her prognosis isnt good, she responds not by spending the nocturnal hours on WebMD.com, researching every prospective mutation of her disease, every avenue of treatment. She drinks Champagne and refuses to answer the phone on the theory that it can only bring unwelcome news. Cancer has simply solidified her bad habits. She seems like the sort of person who just lets the mail pile up so few invitations, so many electric bills.

Katie is married to a handsome architect (Gil Bellows of Ally McBeal). They have a Modernist masterpiece of a house full of Platner tables and Jacobsen chairs. Breaking Bad is awash in the ugliness of surfaces: the brittle New Mexico terrain where the show is set, the vile and dirty bathrooms to which constant nausea necessitates emergency visits. Terminal City lacks that feeling of desperation; by virtue of the way it looks, the show reminds us that there is no point in denying just what a potent tranquilizer wealth really is. When Katies world is horrible, it still looks good; there are countless comforts to be derived from fine bedding.

Victimhood, in this series, is not merely a philosophical idea or a psychological identity, but also a condition open to variations of aesthetic style. By appearing on Post Op! Katie plays the role of victim fashionably, cheekily so that on some level she doesnt have to feel like one. Her father-in-law is a Holocaust survivor and sees everything solely through the lens of that experience, refusing to eat salade niçoise because the French, he says, were never friends to the Jews. Katie is going to die, and she is going to eat and drink whatever she wants. If theres a downside to Terminal City, its that it too will end prematurely.

<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/arts/television/13bella.html?_r=1&ref=television&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/arts/television/13bella.html?_r=1&ref=television&oref=slogin</a>

mafool · March 16, 2008, 4:57pm

Epistrophy,
If I am ever in a legal situation where research is essential to the outcome, I want you in my corner. Actually, next time I am at a some big dinner event, I want you in my “corner,” too. What a treat it would be to get to know you. The research you share is, I suspect, merely a manifestation of your compassion.

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