I'm hoping it's bubonic plague," I told my oncologist.

She looked startled and poked on my swollen lymph nodes. Then she smiled and said, "That would be neat. I've never treated plague before, and it responds well to antibiotics. Have you traveled in the Southwest recently?"

It's a strange world when you and your oncologist think having bubonic plague is preferable to have a cancer recurrence. We were mostly teasing, trying to deal with the fear of a recurrence. I don't remember what...