"The Big C", First and Last Viewing

Showtime premiered their new series yesterday with Laura Linney playing the role of Cathy Jamison, a woman that is dealing with stage 4 melanoma skin cancer. In my wife's and my opinion, it was a bust. Both of us felt very uncomfortable throughout the 30 minute program. Watching a cancer patient deal with a dysfunctional family, including the husband, son, and brother, was disturbing at best. There is also the sad situation where Cathy was not comfortable sharing her diagnosis with any of her family. The only relationship she seemed to have, was a professional one, with the young dermatologist that made the original diagnosis.  


As a couple that have both dealt with melanoma skin cancer, although not at stage 4, we felt that Cathy could be either one of us if we stop paying attention to any of our moles or skin spots. Should we ever be faced with a similar diagnosis, we would hope that we would be much more comfortable involving our family and friends from a support and communication standpoint. 


We will find much better ways to spend our time other than watching "The Big C"– like watering the lawn, pulling weeds, doing dishes...


Fritz