My friend Larry died today -- or yesterday; I haven't gotten the details yet -- and when a mutual friend called to say, "Did you hear?" his immediate followup was that they must have done something wrong at the hospital.

Larry had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and was on a course of chemo; in fact, he'd spent last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as an in-patient being dosed. I spoke with him Wednesday and he seemed fine under the circumstances -- happy that the latest reports had the tumor shrinking with all indications positive.

I don't know what happened, but I'm not ready to automatically blame the medical staff, even though I am generally skeptical about doctors and their close-mindedness. But I'll miss him, and can't help but wonder if it would have made any difference if he had not undergone the discomfort and dustress and hair loss.