Our medical oncologist, Richard Giudice, is a kind, intelligent and interested man. He has a sense of humor. He takes his time with us (because of this, we get a warm feeling when support staff joke about him constantly running late). He always says hello when he sees us in the waiting room or at his assistant’s desk. He is a partner in one of our state’s largest and most respected cancer practices; we believe he knows his stuff. He is cautious, but also practical. He is able to effectively identify and deal with important symptoms while showing care and concern about those that aren’t so relevant to Corinne’s cancer. He is saving Corinne’s life and caring for her spirit at the same time.

Linda’s medical oncologist, Luis Franco, from beginning to end, was equally special. He is from Peru, and went into oncology because he watched his mother die of cancer. The nurses in the hospital where Linda got her chemotherapy told us we were lucky to have him because he was the one doctor who cured his patients. Linda always came to her appointments with some new treatment she had researched, trying to stump the doc; she rarely did. This physician promised to be a warrior for Linda, fighting her cancer; he told her he would fight with everything he had unless the fight couldn’t be won. He did exactly that. And when we all lost that war, he and his wife attended Linda’s memorial service.