After re reading these posts, I watched the video again. This time around I too was irked by the "smugness" factor that he would rather be dead than have the tongue surgery I and many others here have had. The New York Times article backs this up: [quote]You�re going to be the tongueless chef who�s still a genius!� he told him. �I�ll just die,� Achatz said repeatedly.[/quote] (in the Oprah video he gives the impression he had no surgery when he did have a neck dissection with lymph nodes removed and the scar to prove it). So even though he had a wife and even two sons (born in 2001 and 2006) he was willing to die rather than have his tongue cut. Unfortunately I understand his feeling all too well except that my wife and son are the only reasons I agreed to my salvage surgery. The New York Times story tells it all and what is especially fascinating is the description of tongue cancer woven into the article and the eloquent discussion of TASTE in oral cancer patients. I know my sense of smell has become incredibly sensitive after the tongue surgery. Here is the NYT article: I highly recommend reading the whole thing: A Man of Taste
Enough pre dawn posting (mucous choked me awake again)
charm