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Play makes powerful statement to MUSC by Lisa Kerr, Ph.D. One man. One ball. One hour. These three short lines describe writer and actor Brian Lobel’s autobiographical one-man play “Ball,” which was performed at MUSC Feb 28. MUSC students and faculty gathered in the Basic Science Building auditorium to watch Lobel’s “traumedy,” which explores his battle with testicular cancer with humor, originality, and what one reviewer called “pungency.”   Jeffrey Wong, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education, applied for a grant from the Arnold P. Gold Humanism Honor Society to bring Lobel to MUSC after seeing him perform at a recent conference. Wong and fellow course director professor Tom Waldrep integrated the performance into their Medicine in Humanities course, MED 834. Students in this course, which is being offered for the first time at MUSC, study medical narratives through film, drama, and literature in order to gain insight into patient experiences and physician-patient relationships. As a play that so clearly reveals the levels of suffering a cancer patient undergoes, “Ball” provided a perfect fit for the course.   “Ball’s” promotional reviews proclaimed, “You’ll laugh . . . you’ll cry . . . you’ll want to perform a self-exam.” And don’t be surprised if, in fact, patrons are asked at a performance to close their eyes and start that exam right then and there. With a bottomless bag of similar tricks, Lobel surprised, entertained, and enlightened the audience as he explored not only his fight against cancer but also his experiences in the healthcare system and the social implications of being a cancer survivor.   At the age of 20, Lobel discovered a lump on his testicle. For eight grueling months, he underwent chemotherapy treatments as well as complicated surgeries that put his young life on hold. Addressing the audience directly, Lobel explained the range of situations in which he found himself during his struggle. For example, he related his humiliating experience at a sperm bank, where he decided to have sperm frozen as Lance Armstrong had done after receiving a similar diagnosis. Using Armstrong as a touchstone, Lobel explores the implications of living in an Armstrong world, where one is no longer merely expected to survive cancer but to live the life of a champion. In contrast to Armstrong’s victory at the Tour de France, Lobel’s victory involved his hilarious triumph over an 8-year-old girl in a hula hoop contest at a picnic for cancer survivors. (By the way, he only won by default.)   In a question-and-answer period following the play, Lobel was asked what he hoped medical students might take away from the performance. While he expressed his gratitude to and appreciation for the health care providers who had seen him through his struggle, Lobel hoped future doctors might remember that the patient is always a person first. And if a young doctor doesn’t know how to approach a patient who is suffering, Lobel said, “Just ask ‘What would you like to talk about today?’ Let the patient take the lead.” This advice is also judicious for family and friends who are health care providers to very ill patients, including the terminally ill.   For more information on MED 834, contact Waldrep, Academic Support Services executive director and the Writing Center director at 792-6390.     Friday, March 23, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.