Reality check: the patient perspective

No discussion of the topic of oncology chemotherapy quality improvement is complete without the patient as the focus of health care provider efforts. To explore the patients' perspective in their wellness quest, we present an interview with a patient who was diagnosed with lymphoma and received autologous stem cell and allogenic bone marrow transplants. As health care providers, let us never forget that advances in the science of medicine will ultimately be judged by their lasting effects, either positive or negative, on real people.