Dear All,

I was writing to Frank (Goose) about M.D. Anderson, and it occurred to me that some might need this information: When I was diagnosed, I wanted to go to MDA for a consultation, and my local oral surgeon wanted me to go to my very fine surgeon in Shreveport.

I never received a return call from MDA, and I learned later, after my surgery (which, by the way, was excellently performed in Shreveport) that MDA had, indeed, tried to call many times, but that the "Privacy Director" feature on my phone would not admit their un-identified call, nor could they leave a message.

I now have this feature disengaged. But if you are working with a major hospital, be sure that you don't have a privacy feature that will not allow their unidentified calls to be connected.

In fact, if you are in active communication with a treatment center, you should disengage any such features until you know for certain that their calls will be connected to your phone.