For those of you who know my deep backstory, many, mmaannyy years ago I worked on a couple of Oscar telecasts. Starting off fresh out of college as a young PA (grunt) driving scripts around Hollywood to celebrity presenters (for $100/week) - it was the thrill of a lifetime. Especially getting to meet (ok, stand next to) Howard Koch, Johnny Carson and Sir Lawrence Olivier (it's a long story, ask me about it sometime). In an effort to stay topical yet apolitical, let's see if I can connect my blog post to a story about the Academy Awards.
There are so many people behind the scenes of an Oscar-winning film (or any film/TV show for that matter), who work just as hard as the Nicholsons, Hoffmans, Stones or McDormands, but whose names we never remember, nor whose crafts we can't recall. No matter which of the current 23 categories that are awarded, all winners receive the same famous Oscar statuette, whether it's Meryl Streep or Zsuzsa Mihalek. I like the egalitarian nature of this acknowledgement, and how it puts all of these professionals on the same level within their industry - regardless of their notoriety.
Pivot . . .
It takes an equal, if not greater, group of people across a similarly disparate universe of disciplines to keep this cancer body of mine going and healthy. Like in Hollywood where Katharine Hepburn has taken home four trophies (the most of any actor), the Oncologist seems to get all of the credit. But what about the receptionist who serves as the first face you meet on the long and frightening cancer treatment journey, the pharmacist who carefully mixes my cocktail, the tech who swiftly processes my lab work, the nurse who takes my blood and gives my infusions, the HSCT who delivers renewed life via a stem cell transplant, the researcher who toils in search of revolutionary therapies, or the clinical trial participants who have potentially risked their lives so that others may benefit. The vast crew that is responsible for the production that is my treatment regimen; each a comparable component of my healthcare collaboration.
Oscar Night is an evening when Tinseltown acknowledges the names that we know and the ones that we don't. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of my supporting cast whose names that I don't know, but whose efforts have literally saved my life.
