IN THE FACE OF DEATH. IN HARVARD SQUARE, THE REGATTA BAR IS PACKED WITH PEOPLE WAITING TO EXPERIENCE STANLEY GOFF AND THE REMEMBERING THE FUTURE JAZZ BAND. MUSIC IS AN ENORMOUSLY HEALING EXPRESSION FOR ME BECAUSE IT’S IT DOES WHAT WORDS CAN’T DO SAY. GOFF PLAYED MULTIPLE INSTRUMENTS WHILE GROWING UP IN SOUTH AFRICA. I HAD PERIODS OF BEING IMMOBILIZED FOR UP TO A YEAR, INTERMITTENTLY AT A TIME, AND READING AND PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT IS VERY CONSOLING. SEGEV HAS A GENETIC DISORDER CALLED GORDON SYNDROME. HE ENDURED SIX TEEN SURGERIES BY THE TIME HE WAS 13 YEARS OLD. I THINK I FIGURED OUT PRETTY EARLY THAT IF I COULD ARRANGE TO BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF DOCTORING, IT WOULD BE A BETTER DEAL. SO HE BECAME DOCTOR. GOFF SPENT 50 YEARS IN FAMILY CARE, MEDICINE IN NEW YORK AND BOSTON. TODAY, AT AGE 80, HE IS ONCE AGAIN A PATIENT. I HAVE STAGE FOUR MALIGNANT MELANOMA AND BOTH OF MY LUNGS. I’VE GOT SYMPTOMS. I’VE AGED FIVE YEARS IN THE LAST EIGHT WEEKS. I’M PUTTING A GOOD FACE ON IT NOW. IT’S TELEVISION. I’M NOT LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME. I HAVE HARD TIMES, BUT IT’S WORTH IT BECAUSE I’M ALIVE. I LOVE LIFE. DOCTOR GOFF WAS DIAGNOSED IN NOVEMBER 2023 AFTER A CAT SCAN FOR A MINOR CONDITION REVEALED THE CANCER. AT THE TIME, HE HAD NO SYMPTOMS, SO IT WAS A SURPRISE. THERE’S A SHOCK ELEMENT WHEN YOU GET NEWS LIKE THAT OR GIVE NEWS LIKE THAT. SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WHILE WE’RE ALIVE? IS WHAT I’M INTERESTED IN MAKING MUSIC WITH MY COLLEAGUES, EASING MY SUFFERING AROUND SOME OF THE ABRASIVE AND UNFAIR PARTS OF IT, AND SHARING IT WITH MY COLLEAGUES SHOULD MAKE THEM MORE COMFORTABLE AND LESS PHOBIC. ONE WAY TO DO THAT IS TALK OPENLY ABOUT DEATH AND DYING. SO THE FIRST IS RECOGNIZED. WHEN YOU’RE FEELING SOMETHING, YOU CANNOT UNFEEL A FEELING. AT THE SSA.GOV CENTER FOR FAMILY MEDICINE IN ARLINGTON, DOCTOR SEGEV ADVISES MEDICAL STUDENTS AND DOCTORS HOW DO YOU TELL THAT GRIEVOUS AND SHOCKING NEWS TO SOMEONE, BUT HAVE THEM KNOW THAT YOU ARE THERE FOR THEM? DOCTOR SEGEV HAS BEEN A CHERISHED MENTOR TO DOCTOR WAYNE ALTMAN, PRESIDENT OF THE SAG OFF CENTER. IT DOESN’T SURPRISE ME THAT HE WANTS TO BE GENEROUS AND GIVE BACK AS MUCH AS HE CAN WITH THE TIME HE HAS MANY, MANY YEARS AGO, HE TOLD ME THAT MY GOAL WITH EVERY PATIENT ENCOUNTER SHOULD BE TO EXCEED MY PATIENTS EXPECTATIONS, AND THAT IS SOMETHING I’VE SHARED WITH HUNDREDS OF MEDICAL STUDENTS IN MY CAREER, INCLUDING MORE REDMOND AND CATHERINE MARIN, THIRD YEAR STUDENTS AT TUFTS MEDICAL SCHOOL. WHEN SOMEONE IS DIAGNOSED WITH SOMETHING THAT MAY EVENTUALLY BE THE CAUSE OF THEIR DEATH, IT’S IMPORTANT AS A PHYSICIAN THAT YOU’RE WITH THEM ON THAT JOURNEY. IT’S NOT ONE DIAGNOSIS AND YOU’RE DONE. YOU’RE WITH THEM WHEN THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON, WHEN THEY’RE ANXIOUS, AND HELP THEM THROUGH IT. YOU ALSO ARE YOU’RE HONEST WITH THEM AND YOU’RE YOU GIVE THEM SOME SPACE AND TIME TO PROCESS THAT INFORMATION. ALTHOUGH HE IS UNDERGOING AN EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT, DOCTOR SAGOFF SAYS HE HAS NO ILLUSIONS ABOUT HIS FUTURE. I’M VERY LUCKY TO DIE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. I DON’T THINK MY TREATMENT IS GOING TO WORK. ONLY 15% OF THE PEOPLE HAVE IT WORK A BIT AND OFTEN WITH INTOLERABLE SIDE EFFECTS. AND OF COURSE, AT 80 I COULD DIE OF SOMETHING UNRELATED. LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, THE IDEA OF DYING IS NOT FRIGHTENING TO ME. WHAT IS FRIGHTENING BEING DEPEND ISN’T BEING HAVING THINGS DONE TO ME THAT ARE NOT PART OF MY CHOOSING. I TRY TO KEEP REMINDING MYSELF THAT JUST LIKE YOU, WHO OSTENSIBLY DOESN’T HAVE CANCER OR SOME OTHER THING, WE HAVE THE LIFE WE LIVE AND YOU FIND JOY IN LOTS OF PLACES, AS I DO, AND I FIND JUST SADNESS AND MISTAKES AND THINGS LEFT UNDONE THAT I HAVE TO FORGIVE MYSELF FOR. I THINK WHEN I THINK OF LIKE THE SCARIEST THING, IT’S IT’S OTHER PEOPLE BEING, IT’S OTHER PEOPLE’S SUFFERING. LIKE, THAT’S ALWAYS TRUE, RIGHT? ANY ONE OF US IN THIS CONVERSATION, IN AND OUTSIDE THIS CONVERSATION COULD HAVE AN ACCIDENT, COULD UNBEKNOWNST TO THEM, BE HARBORING SOMETHING. BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT SOMETHING IS GOING TO BE IMPERMANENT ABOUT THE STATE WE FIND OURSELVES IN. AS I FIND MYSELF IN A PLIGHT AT THE MOMENT. BUT THIS IS NOT MY LAST BREATH, BUT IT’S ONE BREATH CLOSER TO MY LAST BREATH. AND I KNOW THAT. AND YOU KNOW THAT. THROUGH IMPROVIZATION JAZZ MUSICIANS, MASTER LIVING IN THE MOMENT. LIFE’S EBB AND FLOW, A WORK OF ART ITSELF. IT’S THE PARADOX. OF GRIEF THAT YOU STRADDLING. IT WOULDN’T FEEL BAD IF YOU DIDN’T LOVE IT. WHAT MAKES IT PAIN FULL IS WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT IT. DOCTOR SAGOFF TOLD US THIS WEEK THAT HE’S PLANNING A NEW CD WITH WHAT HE DESCRIBES AS AUSTERE AND DELICATE MUSIC. COMING U