Is There a “Little C”?

Tomorrow morning, I’m going in for some minor outpatient surgery, to remove a spot of basal cell carcinoma from the top of my head.

Now, I chose the words of that sentence pretty carefully. “Minor,” “outpatient,” even “carcinoma.” Because, yes, “carcinoma” means “cancer.” The “Big C” as it is sometimes called. But I’m not trying to be dramatic. I am literally having a minor outpatient procedure, which is nothing — not a drop in the bucket — compared to what so many other cancer patients do on...