M.D.O.D.'s Official Mascot and Model Patient

M.D.O.D. started as a rant of sorts and we labored in obscurity until... well, I guess we still labor in obscurity. No matter!

One of our first visitors to add a comment was 'radgirl' and we were immediately smitten. Radgirl chose her moniker after having undergone the rigors of thyroid cancer surgery and radiation-therapy (they selectively fried her thyroid with intense doses of radiation over many weeks). She's "radgirl" because some docs irradiated her, nice funny twist on a bad situation. I read more.

Radgirl is a wife and a mom and a triathlete and an all around super gal. I have never met her but in the very small internet world we live in we have discovered that we have a friend in common.

All of us at MDOD spend a lot of time railing against our system, and our patients. A patient who skewers themselves with a barbecue tine while drunk and using gasoline to start the grill is, let's face it, a lot more interesting than the nice patient who has a cold.

So here you are readers, a post about a great patient: a post about the kind of patient we would all treat for free, a post about a patient that makes us happy to be doctors, and happy to help to the extent we can, a post about the kind of attitude that it takes to beat cancer and wake up every morning with a smile. Whether the smile is genuine every day or not that's who radgirl is and, in this respect, she is exactly like my lovely wife.

There's a lot of hard science to what we do, but radgirl exemplifies the intangibles that I believe make ALL the difference when faced with adversity or illness. Radgirl read-up on her disease, found herself some excellent physicians, did the hard stuff with a smile, and a few years later, is in remission with a recent clean bill of health.

Obviously there's a lot more to beating cancer than a positive attitude, but a negative attitude will kill you. An 'external locus of control' attitude, a 'woe is me attitude', an 'ain't no one never done nothin' for me' attitude (really, i do hear that all the time, usually after there has, in fact, been a whole lot done for them) is a ticket to the abyss.

So, Radgirl, all of us here at MDOD are great fans of yours. You are now our official mascot (if you will accept) and number one patient. For those of you in dire circumstances and in need of a 'how to' guide to disease or life in general, go read Radgirl's blog. A fine cocktail to you and yours, ma'am.