DOCTOR SILVERMAN

The Christmas holiday has been a wonderful reprieve from any thoughts of my cancer. I’m off to see the doctor on Thursday for the results of my December biopsy.

I think I’m battle ready.

Now it’s time for a long overdue correction. I must confess that for the past year and a half, I’ve been referring to my oncologist as Dr. Goldman. His name is actually Dr. Jeffrey Silverman and he’s a haematologist at North York General.

Let me explain the reason for my subterfuge.

When I began blogging, my relationship with Dr. Silverman was tenuous at best. Long delays with my diagnosis strained our relationship from the outset. In fact, at one point, I considered my sister Michelle’s help in taking my case to Princess Margaret. In addition, communication with Dr. Silverman’s office was often rushed and dispassionate. When I did get to spend time with him, the doctor’s Darth Vader-like reminders of worst case scenarios zapped my confidence.

Calling him by a different name gave me the latitude to be honest about my initial reservations about him and his staff. And, if I did take my case elsewhere, it would not impune Dr. Silverman’s reputation.

To his credit, when I told him I had begun blogging about my cancer experience, he asked that if my story became a movie, he’d like Leonardo DiCaprio to play his part. I wonder if Bruce Willis is available for mine?

Fast forward eighteen months.

Dr. Silverman called about a week before Christmas to thank me for my Hanukkah card and gift and to tell me that although my biopsy results would be in soon, he would respect my previous request not to discuss them until our January meeting.

He wished me and my family a Merry Christmas before he said he’d better be on his way home. It was 7:30 pm.

I can’t imagine a more difficult job and yet, Dr. Silverman does it with compassion and incredible attention to detail. Although at times I’ve painted him as indecisive, know that I now appreciate his humility and common sense in taking my case to radiologists at both Sunnybrook and Princess Margaret for second and third opinions.

His bedside manner may at times be less than cheery but he has always been pragmatic and transparent about my prognosis.

Dr. Silverman is a unique doctor. I still don’t know if he’s married, whether he has any children, what his age is or where he lives.

What I do know is that his dedication and devotion to his patients is second to none. I realize I lucked out when he introduced himself as my cancer doctor on the first day of my lymphoma journey back in June of 2011.

On second thought, I know luck had nothing to do with it and that makes me value my relationship with Dr. Silverman all the more.