Cancer Confidential: Backstage Dramas in the Radiation Clinic

by Charles Hayter, MD

Overview

Each year, almost twenty million people worldwide receive the grim diagnosis of cancer, yet few are prepared for the difficult emotional journey ahead.

Shortly after Dr. Charles Hayter graduated as a cancer specialist, his father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. As with many doctors, he found that his medical training did not prepare him for the anguish and turmoil he witnessed in himself, his patients, and their loved ones – anguish often worsened by the stigma and shame surrounding cancer and radiation. In Cancer Confidential, Dr. Hayter shares behind-the-scenes stories of people dealing with cancer and death – often through avoidance, denial, and conflict, but also as shining examples of quiet courage, resilience, and humour.

The backdrop for the stories is the specialty of radiation oncology. One in three cancer patients will receive radiation therapy, yet it remains a mysterious and often maligned area of medicine.

Told in a vivid, dramatic style, Cancer Confidential sheds light on this poorly understood field and reveals intimate stories of individuals and their families in difficult circumstances. It will lend insight, compassion, and support to anyone facing the diagnosis of cancer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487528157
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	10/18/2022
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Charles Hayter is a physician and award-winning writer based in Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a former associate professor of radiation oncology at both Queen’s University and the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

Disclaimer

Prologue: Medicine as Theatre

1. The Medical Son
2. The Reticent Doctor
3. The Scared Patient
4. The Puppeteer Doctor
5. The Disobedient Patient
6. The Ornery Surgeon
7. The Confused Patient
8. The Interfering Child I
9. The Pushy Patient
10. The Fractured Family
11. The Failed Patient
12. The Shunned Patient
13. The Brave Patient
14. The Interfering Child II
15. The Desperate Couple
16. The Dying Father

Epilogue: The Authentic Doctor
Acknowledgments

What People are Saying About This

Jacalyn M. Duffin

"All the [medical] world's a stage! In elegant prose, with Felliniesque flights into whimsical metaphor, physician-historian-playwright Charles Hayter describes his encounters with cancer, as a doctor and as a son, and how the experience changed him as a person. Sensitive to the arrogance and obfuscation of his clinical colleagues, he advocates for the underappreciated power of radiation therapy in cancer care and for truth in all relationships."

Libby Znaimer

"When you are being treated for cancer, your doctors become the most important people in your life. Charles Hayter's memoir humanizes the most technical of cancer specialties and gives us insight into the physician's side of the story. He is frank about how the personal plays into the professional as well as his frustrations with colleagues and the system — an interesting and refreshing perspective!"

Robert Maunder

"With an extraordinary combination of patient cases, personal anecdotes, and dramatic dialogues, Charles Hayter introduces readers to the dramatis personae of medicine and cancer care — patients, doctors, and families — as he tells the story of his father's cancer diagnosis and death, and his own long journey to an authentic expression of his identity. Cancer Confidential is as moving as it is informative and entertaining."

Nancy Beal

"Touching. Deep. Powerful."

Lord Michael Cashman

"The author and I share many things in common, but I was deeply touched by his acute sensitivity to the emotional dramas of oncology, which arose not just from his acting training but also from his experience with close family cancer and death. Fascinating insights as roles are reversed and emotion takes its place in the drama of life — and death."

Jock Murray

"There are many books written by surgeons and physicians about their life in medicine, but none are like this one. Most are faintly veiled tales of personal heroics, or writings about the wonders of medicine, but this book stands out as a personal story that is honest and sometimes raw, of patient challenges and loss, and an informative story of the place of radiation in modern cancer care. Charles Hayter is open about the personal pain in his family relationships, his distressing tensions with both mother and father, and his eventual recognition and revealing of his gay life. He could have told the story of radiation oncology and cancer patients without revealing himself, but that honesty is one of the powerful appeals of this wonderful book."

Philip C. Hébert

"Interweaving stories of his father's terminal illness and his own practice as a radiation oncologist, Charles Hayter sheds light on the hidden world of the interactions between doctors and patients. This courageous and splendidly written book deserves to be read by patients, their families, and healthcare professionals."

Editorial Reviews

"Interweaving stories of his father’s terminal illness and his own practice as a radiation oncologist, Charles Hayter sheds light on the hidden world of the interactions between doctors and patients. This courageous and splendidly written book deserves to be read by patients, their families, and healthcare professionals."

—Philip C. Hébert, MD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, and Author of Good Medicine and Doing Right

"When you are being treated for cancer, your doctors become the most important people in your life. Charles Hayter’s memoir humanizes the most technical of cancer specialties and gives us insight into the physician’s side of the story. He is frank about how the personal plays into the professional as well as his frustrations with colleagues and the system – an interesting and refreshing perspective!"

—Libby Znaimer, VP News Zoomer Media, Host of Fight Back with Libby Znaimer and The Zoomer

"With an extraordinary combination of patient cases, personal anecdotes, and dramatic dialogues, Charles Hayter introduces readers to the dramatis personae of medicine and cancer care – patients, doctors, and families – as he tells the story of his father’s cancer diagnosis and death, and his own long journey to an authentic expression of his identity. Cancer Confidential is as moving as it is informative and entertaining."

—Robert Maunder, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, and Author of Damaged

"Touching. Deep. Powerful."

—Nancy Beal, Communications Consultant and Author of Alex Tilley: An Endurable Legacy

"The author and I share many things in common, but I was deeply touched by his acute sensitivity to the emotional dramas of oncology, which arose not just from his acting training but also from his experience with close family cancer and death. Fascinating insights as roles are reversed and emotion takes its place in the drama of life – and death."

—Lord Michael Cashman, Member of House of Lords of the United Kingdom and Author of One of Them

"All the [medical] world’s a stage! In elegant prose, with Felliniesque flights into whimsical metaphor, physician-historian-playwright Charles Hayter describes his encounters with cancer, as a doctor and as a son, and how the experience changed him as a person. Sensitive to the arrogance and obfuscation of his clinical colleagues, he advocates for the underappreciated power of radiation therapy in cancer care and for truth in all relationships."

—Jacalyn M. Duffin, Professor Emerita and Hannah Chair of the History of Medicine, Queen’s University

"There are many books written by surgeons and physicians about their life in medicine, but none are like this one. Most are faintly veiled tales of personal heroics, or writings about the wonders of medicine, but this book stands out as a personal story that is honest and sometimes raw, of patient challenges and loss, and an informative story of the place of radiation in modern cancer care. Charles Hayter is open about the personal pain in his family relationships, his distressing tensions with both mother and father, and his eventual recognition and revealing of his gay life. He could have told the story of radiation oncology and cancer patients without revealing himself, but that honesty is one of the powerful appeals of this wonderful book."

—Jock Murray, OC, ONS, MD, FRCPC, MACP, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Medicine, Dalhousie University

From the Publisher