Post Interview Reflection

 We all agreed that Dr. Sirridge was an excellent person to interview, you could tell he was passionate and loved his job. In his body language and his tone, his sincere dedication to helping others was clearly displayed. We were thoroughly impressed with his willingness to share his knowledge with us, and impart some wisdom to us at the end of the interview. He answered our questions in depth and gave his full attention to our questions. He thought about the questions that were asked and answered them in a clear and concise manner. He was very knowledgeable about cancer and had years of experience. Dr. Sirridge seemed like a very respectable man and was very pleasant to talk to. We would also say that a positive vibe came from Dr. Sirridge.

 After the interview, changes did occur as a result. We now looked at cancer patients differently just by the way he spoke. We felt like we had more respect for cancer patients because they have fought so hard and gone through so much. We know more about cancer then we did before. For example, sometimes you can't predict how a tumor will behave. Sometimes, patients have done well with treatments and all was stacked against them to do poorly. We learned that every patient deals with cancer in different ways whether it be with anger or depression. Patients become closer to their family as a result. Also, our research became more of a material thing after the interview. It was harder to become connected to the research solely through the computer program. By speaking to an expert on our topic, we became more involved and personally connected to the topic.

 We wouldn't say we found anything disturbing about the interview more than say emotional. His stories about his past patients were truly touching and helped us connect to the topic on a more personal level. When describing all the different responses that patients can have to cancer, it became clear that Dr. Sirridge cared for each and every one of them because of who they were and how they decided to fight the disease. 

  Our research and interview intertwined with each other in many ways, which was helpful.  In the interview we asked many of the things we had researched. He confirmed them and added to our knowledge and curiosity of childhood cancer. Dr. Sirridge said many children that came in were more positive than any adult patients. They don't fear cancer because they have got their whole lives ahead of them. He also said that they usually try and get rid of cancer in children because their bodies are still pristine. They treat cancer differently in adults than they do in children. We also asked Dr. Sirridge about grid computing. His answer was very intellectual and made us think of grid computing in a different way. He said that sometimes, we find different types of cancers in different areas of the world. Patterns of these different types of cancers can help contribute to the algorithms and help find out things we didn't know before. We also asked him how evolution and cancer were related to each other. He said that cancer changes very quickly. Some cancers are becoming more common that weren't before and vise versa.

Overall, Dr. Sirridge was an amazing doctor to converse with. He truly was an extraordinary doctor with his years of experience with patients. He knew so much about cancer and had so many stories to tell. We related all of his answers back to what we were doing in class. He made great connections of cancer with evolution and grid computing. He helped us understand more about childhood cancer. In conclusion, Dr. Sirridge was truly an amazing soul and we thank him for taking his time to let us interview him.