Christian Walker

Reenah’s fiance. In life, CJ was a kind and charming man in his early 30s. He worked as a radiation and pediatric oncologist for the cancer center at the Naperville campus of the Edwards Hospital. This can be bleak work and, at times, it truly was. But CJ always made the best of it; he was very sensitive and understanding, always made time for his family and his friends, and was one of the strongest people alive.

While he’s remembered as a very lighthearted, kind, and charming, this personality of his is not shown. Instead, he’s shown as highly manipulative, cunning, and threatening. Because he is a manifestation spawned by Reenah’s PTSD, he has full access to her thoughts, feelings, and opinions. This allows him to seemingly anticipate what she’s thinking at any given moment, but this doesn’t shock Reenah. On some level, Reenah does recognize that CJ is a delusion of her own making, but she submits to the delusion because trying to work around her own mind is impossible. Plus, CJ can often be something like pathologically charming towards Reenah, in order to convince her to listen to him.

He’s not able to actively interact with any character but Reenah, so he often brutally insults and degrades the various other characters. At first, Reenah is extremely resentful of this, because she does recognize that CJ is a delusion and that his opinions do come from her own dark beliefs, but as she submits herself to him more and more, she adopts them on the surface and uses them to attack those around her. CJ, for his part, doesn’t gain anything like pleasure from the attacks, but gets it from having Reenah submit herself to him.

Reenah is often very distracted by the presence of CJ, which he seems to use to his advantage. For example, a therapy session which may otherwise see Reenah starting the healing process may instead involve CJ using some truly disgusting tactics to discredit and disparage Reenah’s therapist, Dr. Cassandra Farme, in Reenah’s eyes. As Reenah begins to “agree” with him and adopt his views as her own, she often loses her place in conversations and time as she “listens” to her fiance.
In sum, CJ is a sociopath to one person. He wants nothing more than for Reenah to worship him through her actions. At the same time, CJ is just a manifestation of Reenah’s own darkest impulses and is the main driving force for Reenah’s descent into madness.

## Research Notes

### https://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/cancer-basics/cancer-care-team/types-oncologists

Oncology is the study of cancer. An oncologist is a doctor who treats cancer and provides medical care for a person diagnosed with cancer.

The field of oncology has three major areas: medical, surgical, and radiation.

* A **medical oncologist** treats cancer using chemotherapy or other medications, such as targeted therapy or immunotherapy.
* A **surgical oncologist** removes the tumor and nearby tissue during surgery. He or she also performs certain types of biopsies to help diagnose cancer.
* A **radiation oncologist** treats cancer using radiation therapy.

Other types of oncologists include:

* A **gynecologic oncologist** treats gynecologic cancers, such as uterine, ovarian, and cervical cancers.
* A **pediatric oncologist** treats cancer in children. Some types of cancer occur most often in children and teenagers. This includes certain brain tumors, leukemia, osteosarcoma, and Ewing’s sarcoma. Types of cancer more common in children sometimes also occur in adults. In these situations, an adult may decide to work with a pediatric oncologist.
* A **hematologist-oncologist** diagnoses and treats blood cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

#### The role of the oncologist

An oncologist manages a patient’s care throughout the course of the disease. This starts with the diagnosis. His or her role includes:

* Explaining the cancer diagnosis and stage
* Talking about all treatment options and his or her preferred choice
* Delivering quality and compassionate care
* Helping a patient manage the symptoms and side effects of cancer and cancer treatment.

Different types of doctors often work together to create a patient’s overall treatment plan that combines different types of treatments. For instance, a patient may need treatment with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. This is called a multidisciplinary team.

Cancer care teams also include a variety of other health care professionals:

* A **pathologist** reads laboratory tests. This includes checking cells, tissues, and organs to diagnose disease
* A **diagnostic radiologist** conducts imaging tests to diagnose disease. This includes x-rays or ultrasound tests.
* An **oncology nurse**
* An **oncology social worker**

The team may also involve doctors from other areas of medicine. For instance, a dermatologist who specializes in skin problems may also help treat skin cancer.

Sometimes a person’s cancer diagnosis is complex. In this case, the patient’s oncologist may ask a tumor board to review the case. This involves medical experts from all areas of cancer care who come together to decide on the best treatment plan.

### https://www.eehealth.org/services/cancer/

#### Cancer care

Cancer is a journey that no one expects to take. It’s a journey that requires expertise, encouragement, and, most of all, a team to rally around you. At Edward-Elmhurst Health, our cancer experts will partner with you every step of the way.

We offer three state-of-the art cancer centers in Naperville, Elmhurst and Plainfield, each with expert care teams that focus on your individual physical and emotional needs — and put you in the driver’s seat.

#### Cancer services

When you team up with Edward-Elmhurst Health, you get access to a range of cancer services, including multidisciplinary clinics, genetic counseling and comprehensive cancer treatments including HIPEC, NanoKnife® and Da Vinci® and support services.

### https://work.chron.com/much-money-radiation-oncologist-make-annually-3203.html

#### Radiation Oncology Salaries

Radiation oncology is an important specialty, with about half of all cancer patients receiving radiation therapy at some point in their treatment, according to the National Cancer Institute. However, their salaries are usually grouped with those of other hematologist-oncologists in industry surveys. One exception is the annual salary survey performed by the Medical Group Management Association. In its 2011 survey, the MGMA reported an average salary of $477,807 per year for radiation oncologists. By contrast, medical staffing agency Jackson & Coker reports an average salary of $367,978 for oncologists as a group.

#### Comparisons

Industry studies can reveal a number of factors aside from basic salary data. In April 2012, Becker's Hospital Review parsed data from several medical-industry salary surveys to draw a picture of how various medical specialties compared. The Becker's analysis showed hematologist-oncologists earning a median income of $325,000 in 2011, well below the average reported by Jackson & Coker. This indicates a relatively small number of oncologists earning larger salaries and distorting the average. Hospital Review found that oncologists earned higher salaries in the Southwest, and that those in multi-specialty practices earned more than those in single-specialty practices.

#### Other Specialties

Radiation oncologists also fare well in comparison to many other medical specialties. The MGMA survey placed them 20th among its highest-paid specialties in the 2011 survey. Some cardiology sub-specialties paid a higher average salary, such as electrophysiology at $601,111 per year. So did diagnostic radiology, at a salary of $513,000 in the same survey. However, Jackson & Coker reports an average salary of $365,412 for anesthesiologists, $430,882 for gastroenterologists and $372,479 for otolaryngologists, all well-paid specialties in their own right.