Dr. Anton Titov: “My mother had a ‘fibrotic scar’ in her lung for several years. In 2014 this "scar" increased in size and was re-classified as a lung tumor. This was a sudden and sad new interpretation of diagnostic tests. We consulted a renowned thoracic surgeon in a leading academic hospital in Boston. We received a gloomy summary. “Just to be clear, the multiple abnormalities in the lung largely removes it from the realm of surgery. There is no hurry with the biopsy because we don’t have very good options.  I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but her best option is a very slow growing tumor.” We had no reason to challenge this experienced surgeon’s verdict. I had interacted with this senior academic thoracic surgeon during my surgery residency. He was a very competent expert, he was deeply respected by professional peers. So all we could do was… nothing.