Whenever my attendings would ask me about my journey with cancer, one of the most common questions I was asked was “Did you notice any symptoms before you were diagnosed?”
My answer was always the same: “I felt tired, but don’t all surgery residents feel tired?”
I had just started a burn surgery rotation at Maricopa, in Phoenix, when I noticed I had an enlarged lymph node above my left clavicle. I tried not to think too much of it but knew it was