Science Lesson No. 4

In The Blow-up Man, Dr. Morton is who Faye is replacing on the Anatomy & Physiology teaching team at Cullen State University. He’s been diagnosed with a brain tumor and has had to take a leave of absence because of the symptoms he’s experiencing.  The headaches, language dysfunction, and personality changes caused by the glioblastoma made it where Dr. Morton could no longer fulfill his obligations to the teaching team or to the students. This presented an opportunity for Faye to step-in as a replacement for Dr. Morton.

There are two types of tumors, those that are benign (noncancerous) and those that are malignant (cancerous). Just because you have a benign tumor doesn’t mean it can’t be dangerous. For example, a benign tumor usually grows slow but it eventually grows to a size where it can exert pressure on a vital region of the brain, causing problems that can mimic other disease processes. But this isn’t Dr. Morton’s problem. He has a very fast-growing, aggressive tumor that is hard to treat.

One fateful morning, Faye inquires with Todd about Dr. Morton’s prognosis. Leave it to Todd to give Faye a lecture on the blood-brain-barrier before trying to put the moves on her. I guess Todd’s ramblings about proteins and capillary pores are his idea of foreplay.

Next time, join me for a lesson about small cell lung cancer. In The Blow-up Man, who was it that died of this disease? Bye for now, Nina B.