Who are you going to listen to?

Editor,

If your doctor diagnoses you with cancer, do you seek a second opinion? Good, that’s what you should do. But if you seek 99 more opinions and 97 of 100 doctors say you have cancer, who do you believe? On top of that, all your non-doctor friends are telling you about their personal experiences. Your brother had a mole once, but he’s ok, so you should be ok. Your sister’s friend’s mother had cancer and she’s dead, so since you’re not dead you don’t have cancer.

Who do you listen to? The 97 well-trained doctors who say you have cancer and need treatment, or the 3 equally well-trained doctors plus all your friends with their anecdotal stories? There is a lot on the line here. Did I mention the treatment is to lead a healthier lifestyle? Exercise, eat better, lose weight. All those good things that are hard to get started, but once accomplished… no more cancer!

So, what do you do?

There will always be conflicting opinions, even amongst those that are well-trained on the question at hand. Our job is to make the best decision we can with the information we have. Your friends and their anecdotal stories? You can ignore all that. They are not trained in the matter at hand, and given this is a life or death decision, you should really listen to the pro’s here. So, it’s down to 97 diagnoses vs. 3, all from well-educated doctors, all pro’s in their field. Going with the 3 might feel good and help you relax, but you will probably die. Going with the 97 will be a struggle, and even stressful at first, but you will definitely live and even live a better life than the one you had been so far. You’ll lose the weight you’ve been talking about all these years, be able to play with your kids and grandkids, be active and healthy again.

What’s your choice?

I forgot to mention. It turns out that 2 of those 3 doctors later reviewed your case a second time and changed their opinion. They now believe you have cancer. And that last one, well he hasn’t had the best track record, there are some questions of his ethics, and his license is currently under review.

Of course, by now you realize this is not really about you and cancer. It’s more of an allegory about climate change, global warming, rising sea levels, more devastating weather events, and how we should base our decisions on the best information available. It’s a metaphor for how to make wise decisions.

Turns out, it’s not about you or your friends’ opinions at all.

Andy Burwig,

Thompson Falls