From the memoir: A cancer surgeon reflects on the virtues of humility and optimism in his profession

A couple sat in front of me.

The husband was a middle-aged businessman. He had been having a little burning pain. He took antacids for some time. The pain didn’t subside. A friendly family physician said, “Take some other drugs.” Nothing much happened. He started losing weight, and that was when the alarm bells started ringing.

A gastroenterologist was seen quickly and an endoscopy was done, which confirmed stomach cancer.

Then the panic set in. By the time they came to me, he was the more composed of the two. The wife was clearly in a panic.

“Tell me, Doctor, he’ll be all right, no?”

“I’ll try my best. He should be all right. So far, there is no spread – at least, there doesn’t seem to be – and he seems to be fine.”

The husband looked at her, then at me. “Whatever may be the risk, I have to face it. But still, what is the risk?”

I had to be honest with him.

‘More or less, the risk is around 5% for any surgery of your type. But there are two 5% I am talking about, and you must understand both. The first 5% is the risk of the surgery itself. The second is the chance that, when...

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