Cheryl Bailey is a retired gynecologic oncologist whose short story “People Are Dumb” appears in the Spring 2024 issue of Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine.
Working as a gynecologic oncologist for more than twenty years, I prescribed radiation therapy all the time, and knew the phone numbers of each doctor who specialized in gyn patients. While lots of people can write for chemotherapy, and many can perform complex surgeries, there’s really no other physician who can assess the films, look at the patient’s soft tissue, read their oncologic history and work the magic of the machine to make the bad lump go away. Or shrink. Or at least stop growing. This specialized field of Radiation Oncology was important to my practice, and I incorporated it in my narrative fiction piece “People Are Dumb” in the Spring 2024 issue of Intima.
And yet, how invisible the radiation oncologist can be, along with the physicists and aides, nurses, and techs. Each dose matters. A routine treatment could turn disastrous from incorrect data, or a name switched in the schedule. The team keeps the flow of people moving, finding the personalized forms for the next patient, the next body part.
I loved the friendly look of Leon Axel’s watercolor and ink drawings of his Radiation Oncology providers in RT Journey (Intima, Fall 2023). Those faces, open and caring, showed utterly normal people. Which one had cursed the lack of easy parking that morning? Who had needed a bathroom break, but roomed Dr. Axel first so he’d be treated on time? The images reminded me of how easy it is for us to be invisible. I’ve read critiques of cookie-cutter medicine and complaints about how patients feel unseen, but I don’t recall similar works on doctors aching for recognition.
One of the watercolors in Leon Axel’s series titled “RT Journey” (Intima, Fall 2023) showing members of his radiation team.
The portraits of the people who cared for Dr. Axel reflect just that—their care. They smiled for him, and maybe even felt flattered to be seen by their patient. When employers determined how much time a doctor’s visit can take, and when COVID took our faces away, and when the EMR dragged our gaze from patient to screen, that all-important connection to those we hope to cure was damaged. I hope we can all feel proud of our own work, seeing the care Leon Axel took to showcase his radiation team’s humanity. He made all of us in medicine just a little less invisible. A lovely gift to his providers on the RT Journey, indeed.
Cheryl Bailey is a retired gynecologic oncologist whose creative non-fiction piece “Love, Frank” was published in the Fall 2022 issue of Intima. Bailey, who has published articles for small medical journals and hospital newsletters, edits and reviews medical articles for the Journal of Medical Regulation and was a community columnist in the St. Paul Pioneer Press for a year. Her first novel is set for publication June 2024 with Calumet Editions. She is President of the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice and a Board member in the St. Paul League of Women Voters. Bailey also sings in the Mill City Singers and plays the flute in the St. Paul JCC orchestra. She lives with her husband, mom and two poorly behaved dogs. Her short story “People Are Dumb” appears in the Spring 2024 issue of Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine.