Against Long Odds

Against Long Odds is a story about the mystery of cancer, the unique relationship of doctors to their patients and patients to their physicians, the amazing complexity of biological systems, and ultimately, the surrender to all the unknowns.

The laboratory discovery and isolation of a mutant gene that increases the chance of survival in patients with ovarian cancer leads a patient to travel to a major medical center to see the doctor who synthesized the antibody to the gene and demonstrated its role in the treatment of the disease. His interactions with his colleagues and the patient reveal a depth of purpose, sensitivity and humility in the face of unanswered questions.

The patient is a young, married mother with most of her life ahead of her who deals with this misfortune in what the doctor considers a uniquely heroic way. She demonstrates a sense of self and her place in the world in some ways unfamiliar to the doctor.

At the outset, they independently settle on a metaphor for the end of their journey. The reader only understands all of this at the end of the story.

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