Why Be Assertive?

Seattle lawyer Gloria Nagler says that when she was first told she had endometrial cancer she was “totally passive.”

This is a lawyer who at that time (four years ago) had spent more than 17 years appearing in court, speaking in public, and being very assertive on behalf of her clients. Even so, when told she had cancer, she was unable to assert herself. I think most of us feel that way at first. (I did.) Gloria says she was passive because she was shocked by the news and afraid.

“It never occurred to me to check around, “ she says. “My surgeon was a general surgeon, not a cancer surgeon, or even better, a surgeon specializing in gynecological cancer surgery. That cost me a second surgery.

“It’s done. it’s past. I didn’t sue.”

Gloria’s first surgeon removed the cancer, and told her she was cured, but the doctor had not removed the lymph nodes. So when Gloria did consult a gynecological cancer specialist, she was told she would need a second major surgery to remove the lymph nodes because without them there was no way to “stage” her cancer and tell her how far it had progressed.

“It was appalling,” Gloria says. “I paid the price of a whole second surgery. From then on I was not passive.”