ABSTRACT
A young woman, wearing a flimsy paper gown and sitting in a chilly, sterile hospital examination cubicle, has just been told by an oncologist that she has breast cancer. She is frightened and very upset, worried about the pain she will have to endure and the changes this will make to her life. She pours out her fears in a torrent of words, but the doctor cuts her short, tells her the main thing is to attack the cancer head on, and goes on at great length to describe to the uncomprehending woman the technical details of the course of chemotherapy he recommends. What is he talking about, she wonders; what was she going on about, the doctor wonders.
