Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1042.
Being diagnosed with and treated for cancer.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1042.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
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You can also We'll see you next time. about the all too common problem of cancer.
Let's get started.
Do you see this lump?
I'm sure I have cancer.
Don't jump to conclusions.
It could be something completely benign.
I know it's not benign.
It's got to be a malignant tumor.
The cancer is probably at stage 2 or 3 already.
The oncologist will probably want to start me on radiation and chemotherapy right away.
You haven't seen a single doctor yet.
And you're already planning for the worst.
Of course I am.
I want to be mentally prepared for the bad news.
The doctor will do a biopsy, but I already know what the results will be.
I'm just hoping the prognosis will be good.
I think you're getting way ahead of yourself.
It could be something completely harmless.
I can't afford to believe that I have a family history of cancer.
My father was diagnosed when he was 56 years old.
It's true he's been in remission and hasn't had a relapse yet but you never know with cancer.
That's right.
You never know.
You could live to the age of 90.
You can fool yourself as much as you like, but I have to face facts, especially as sick as I am.
Vivian begins our dialogue by...
Asking guy, do you see this lump?
I'm sure I have cancer.
A lump L-U-M-P is a small bump or piece of something that, when we're talking about the body, is right below your skin.
There's something like a little ball underneath your skin that you can feel.
That's a lump.
Cancer.
C-A-N-C-E-R is a disease caused when cells in some part of your body begin to grow and make you sick.
Cancer can, of course, also kill you and unhappily does in some cases.
Guy says to Vivian, don't jump to conclusions.
Vivian thinks that she has cancer just because she found a lump on her body.
To jump to conclusions means to think that you know the answer to a question before you have all of the information necessary to know the answer.
To jump to conclusions is to try to make a decision or reach a conclusion before having all of the necessary information.
Guy says it, meaning the lump, could be something completely benign.
A lump.
Benign, B-E-N-I-G-N, lump would be a lump that would not be harmful or deadly.
The word benign means that it doesn't cause any harm, that it won't hurt you.
Vivian, however, says, I know it's not benign.
It's got to be a malignant tumor.
The word malignant, M-A-L-I-G-N-A-N-T here means the opposite of benign, something that will hurt you.
A tumor.
T-U-M-O-R is a kind of cancer growth that can spread throughout your body and ultimately kill you.
Vivian says the cancer is probably at stage two or stage three already.
Cancers are often classified by how serious they are and how advanced they are, how much the cancer has spread throughout your body.
The classification system is based on stages.
A stage.
S-T-A-G-E here means one step in a process, one level of progress or advancement of a certain thing.
In this case, the growth of the cancer.
The higher the number of the stage, the more advanced and serious the cancer has become.
Stage 1 is not as serious as stage 4, which I believe is the highest stage used when talking about the spread of cancer, the growth of the cancerous cells in your body.
Vivian thinks she's already at stage 2 or 3, which would be somewhat unusual but possible.
The oncologist, she says, will probably want to start me on radiation and chemotherapy right away.
Vivian doesn't even know if she has cancer and she's already assuming all sorts of things, such as that her cancer is already at stage two or three.
She also thinks the oncologist will start her on radiation and chemotherapy.
An oncologist, O-N-C-O-L O-G-I-S-T, is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating cancer.
To diagnose, D-I-A-G-N-O-S, means to identify a problem, usually a medical problem that you have.
An oncologist can determine if you have cancer and treat the cancer.
To treat, T-R-E-A-T, cancer, means to try to stop the cancer, to cure you.
Vivian mentions radiation and chemotherapy.
Radiation.
R-A-D-I-A, T-I-O-N is the use of high-energy substances that kills cancer cells and makes the tumors smaller.
It's a medical treatment.
Chemotherapy, C-H-E-M-O-T-H-E-R-A-P-Y, is the use of injections of chemicals, chemicals that are put into your body to kill the cancer cells.
Guy says you haven't seen a single doctor yet and you're already planning for the worst.
Guy is saying you haven't even talked to one doctor and you already are planning for the worst, the worst possible case.
Vivian says, of course I am.
I want to be mentally prepared for the bad news.
To be mentally prepared means that you think about a problem and are ready for the worst possible case of that problem or worst possible resolution of that problem.
Perhaps
Vivian says the doctor will do a biopsy.
A biopsy B-I-O-P-S-Y is a medical procedure where a small amount of your body is removed and tested.
In this case, it would be tested to see if you had cancer.
Vivian says, I'm just hoping the prognosis will be good.
Prognosis, P-R-O-G-N-O-S-I-S, is what a doctor thinks will happen to you with a certain disease.
Diagnosis means the doctor identifies the problem.
A prognosis is what the doctor thinks will happen to you.
Will you continue to live for the next 10 years?
Will you die in six months?
Those would be examples of prognosis.
It's a prediction about what will happen to you in terms of your health.
Guy says, I think you're getting way ahead of yourself.
To get better ahead of yourself or way ahead of yourself means to say or do something sooner than you should, especially if you have jumped to conclusions, if you have made up your mind before you have all the information that you need to make a decision.
You can also get way ahead of yourself by making preparations for something that hasn't even happened yet.
So, for example, you meet a beautiful girl at a bar and you get her phone number.
You go home and you start planning your wedding with this woman.
You start thinking about how many children you want to have with this woman.
That would be a very good example of getting way ahead of yourself.
Notice the use of the word way, W-A-Y, here.
It just means very much, really ahead of yourself, perhaps.
Guy says it, meaning, again, the lump, could be something completely harmless.
Vivian responds, I can't afford to believe that.
If someone says they can't afford A-F-F-O-R-D to do something, the person means it's not possible for them because if they did, it would cause them more harm.
The risk of something bad happening is too great.
Vivian says, I have a family history of cancer.
A family history of some disease or illness means that other members of your family have had that disease.
In my case, I have a family history of heart disease.
My father had heart disease, as did some of my uncles.
Vivian says, my father was diagnosed when he was 56 years old.
My father was diagnosed, meaning the doctor said that he had cancer, when he was only 56.
It's true, Vivian continues.
He's been in remission and hasn't had a relapse yet, but you never know with cancer.
If your cancer is in remission R-E-M-I-S-S-I-O-N.
Vivian says her father has been in remission from his cancer and hasn't had a relapse yet.
A relapse, R-E-L-A-P-S-E, is a return to a previous state or condition of bad health.
So you get better and then you get worse again.
Getting worse again would be the relapse, going back to the condition you started with.
Guy says that's right, you never know.
Vivian has said that, quote, you never know with cancer, unquote.
When someone says you never know, he means it's not possible for you to predict.
Guy says that's right, you could live to the age of 90.
Vivian says you can fool yourself as much as you like, quote, But I have to face facts.
To fool, F-O-O-L, yourself means to make you believe something that isn't true.
To hide the truth from yourself.
Vivian says she has to face facts.
The expression to face F-A-C-E facts F-A-C-T-S, means to accept reality, to accept the truth, especially when it's a difficult or painful truth that you have to accept.
Vivian is convinced that she has cancer.
And that's why she ends by saying that she has to face facts, especially as sick as I am.
Vivian believes she's sick, even though she hasn't gone to a doctor yet.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Do you see this lump?
I'm sure I have cancer.
Don't jump to conclusions.
It could be something completely benign.
I know it's not benign.
It's got to be a malignant tumor.
The cancer's probably at stage two or three already.
The oncologist will probably want to start me on radiation and chemotherapy right away.
You haven't seen a single doctor yet, and you're already planning for the worst.
I think you're getting way ahead of yourself.
It could be something completely harmless.
I can't afford to believe that.
I have a family history of cancer.
My father was diagnosed when he was 56 years old.
It's true he's been in remission and hasn't had a relapse yet, but you never know with cancer.
That's right.
You never know.
You could live to the age of 90.
You can fool yourself as much as you like, but I have to face facts, especially as sick as I am.
A scriptwriter never jumps to conclusions.
She's always looking at the facts and then making the right decision, as she does in every script that she writes.
Thank you, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
