Words of Thanks

As an avid fisherman and outdoors writer born long before the days of sunscreen awareness, it was probably inevitable that I would end up with skin cancer. What’s more fortunate is that I live within a few miles of West Campus and Jonathan Cook’s Mohs surgery unit. Having been under Dr. Cook’s expert knife twice, I was pleased to see him featured in your May-June [2010] issue. Bridget Booher does a good job describing how humanely the doctor treats his patients, and I’d like to add something from my own experience.

After my first Mohs surgery, I wrote a long story about sun protection for Raleigh’s News & Observer. Within a few days, I got a handwritten note from Dr. Cook thanking me for the effort. At my second surgery, I gave him a copy of my novel. Once again, a thank-you note arrived in the mail. Careful readers of Booher’s article will wonder—as did I—how Dr. Cook could possibly find the time for such gracious gestures.

Odds are good that I’ll be back in Dr. Cook’s clinic for more Mohs surgery. But I’ll go with the attitude that it’s no big deal and that I’ll receive the best treatment possible, in every sense of the word.


Bill Morris ’75  |  
Durham