I am a surgeon who was diagnosed with malignant melanoma under my thumbnail on July 21, 2021. For those of you who have been following my cancer journey, you know that my life changed suddenly at that time. I underwent amputation of half of my dominant right-hand thumb, underwent a sentinel node biopsy, and now am receiving a year of infusions of a drug called Keytruda.

I have not put a blog out in the past few weeks, the reason being that I just have not felt well. To date, I have been very transparent with my readers; and at the encouragement of Pastor Jack Foster, I have decided to share with you all my progress with complete honesty. Most of my blogs have been uplifting and encouraging because I share the truth. But sometimes life gets tough. Please read all the way to the end today to find out my current status.

After my last infusion of Keytruda on February 23, 2022, I had a few good days, and then completely lost my energy. For those who read my last blog on my “Anti-Cancer Lifestyle,” I will say that when one feels bad physically, it is so easy to “fall off the wagon” with regard to healthy routines. I found myself tired and wanting to sleep more, foregoing my early morning workouts. I found myself wanting to eat more comfort foods and less of the nutritious, immune boosting foods mentioned in my last blog. I found myself cutting back on my quiet daily devotionals and on my commitment to read more and be online less. As a physician, I have always known this intellectually; but I now have experienced firsthand how a physical setback can really alter healthy routines and simply give one a bad attitude. I was in a state of fighting through the workday and coming home exhausted. And my usually positive attitude took a turn for the worse. In hindsight, much of my physical setback was related to a 10-day upper respiratory infection right after my last infusion along with a cracked tooth that caused fairly intense pain for a month. As an ENT surgeon, I know that odontogenic issues can make one systemically ill. Thank God for my good friend and dentist, Dr. Matt Gorham, who made a special trip into the office to give me complete relief on a day outside of his regular schedule!

Well, I am feeling way better now, and my attitude has improved. I tried to think back in time to another period of my life when I had a bad attitude that got corrected.  Let me share with you a true patient story from over 20 years ago in 2001. There is a letter I have kept in my Bible since 2001 to remind me how sometimes things are not always what they seem, and how we do not always know God’s plan for us. Here is the background:

I was called late one day to the ICU at Summit Medical Center in Nashville, TN, where I had staff privileges. Over the years, I have served in various leadership roles there, including 5 years as Chief of Surgery, 6 years on the Board of Trustees, and 3 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees. This time, I was called to see a man named Dale. He had been in the ICU on a ventilator for many days with multi-organ system failure. These were his conditions: 1. lungs were failing (ARDS- acute respiratory distress syndrome); 2. Heart was failing (CHF- congestive heart failure); 3. Kidneys were failing (ARI- acute renal insufficiency); 4. Abdominal issues; 5: Overwhelming infection from his abdominal issues (abdominal sepsis); and others. The only organ system that still functioned was his central nervous system, his brain. However, because he was on a ventilator, he was sedated with medication to be able to be comfortable (pharmacologically paralyzed and sedated) so he was unable to communicate with anyone. I was called to see him in consultation, and to place a tracheostomy to make him more comfortable on the ventilator and prevent long term sequelae of an endotracheal tube sitting in his throat. And I am being completely honest, I had a terrible attitude! I told his ICU nurses that this man had no chance for meaningful survival, and that me performing the operation was not only very risky but ultimately it would make no difference in his outcome. To be completely honest, I made the most horrible and crass statement that brings tears to my eyes now as I type it. I said, “this man has one foot on a banana peel, and one foot in the grave,” and in my opinion I should not be performing this operation. Obviously, my words were only to the medical care team, and I showed kindness to his family, from whom I obtained informed consent for the operation. The procedure went flawlessly and allowed the patient to be awakened, and communicate with his family, which he did. And as I predicted, he died a couple of weeks later, and I had that “I told you so” attitude. So how did my attitude change?…..READ ON…because this is worth reading.

A couple of weeks after the patient passed, I received this letter in the mail.  I will share it verbatim.

“Dr. Bryant-

I wanted to thank you for the care, concern, and Christian witness you were willing to share with me prior to the successful tracheal operation you performed on my father. As you are probably aware, he passed away on Tuesday. What you are probably not aware of is that he was an unsaved man. Just prior to his death on Tuesday morning, I was able to go over the plan of salvation one more time with him. Just one hour before his death he accepted Jesus Chris as his Lord and Savior. God worked through you to give my father the extra time he needed.

Thank You-

Scott ___, son of Dale ___”

Wow! From then on, I NEVER EVER questioned why I was called to trach a patient. I took that letter and read it to the ICU nurses, and I apologized to them for my bad attitude preoperatively. This story exemplifies how joy comes out of circumstances that we deem to be terrible.

About my treatment, I feel like the letter expressed… that God is giving me the extra time that I need, and I need to be good steward of that time, with a good attitude. The great news is that I underwent extensive imaging studies earlier this week on Wednesday, April 6, and my scans were all completely clear now 9 months out from my diagnosis. I had an infusion of Keytruda just yesterday, April 7, and have had no side effects from it. I have now completed 8 infusions with only two more to go. I am back on track with my wellness lifestyle. May God bless you all!