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He spent an hour patiently answering our questions, but his prognosis was terrifying:
这位医生花了一个小时耐心地回答我们的问题，但他的预后却很可怕:
The tumor needed to be removed, and the operation would likely leave Pete blind in one eye and possibly without the ability to speak.
肿瘤需要被切除，而且手术可能会导致皮特一只眼睛失明，并可能失去说话的能力。
With Pete’s episodes of light-headedness occurring more frequently, the surgeon scheduled the surgery for the following week.
由于皮特头晕的情况越来越频繁，医生将手术安排在下周进行。
What happened next can be described only as a stroke of luck.
接下来发生的事情只能被描述为一次意外的好运。
Pete and I reached out to the rabbi at our temple for comfort,
皮特和我向教堂里的拉比寻求安慰，
and she connected us with another congregant whose son had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor a few years earlier.
她还把我们介绍给另一位教友，这位教友的儿子几年前做了切除脑瘤的手术。
She encouraged us to get a second opinion from the neurosurgeon at Duke University Medical Center who had operated on her son.
她儿子的手术是杜克大学医学中心的神经外科医生做的，她鼓励我们从那里寻求第二意见。
“He can do things other surgeons can’t,” she said.
“他能做其他外科医生做不到的事情，”她说。
As a health reporter, I knew objectively that a second opinion could be valuable.
作为一名健康记者，我客观地知道，第二意见可能很有价值。
A 2017 Mayo Clinic study found that one in five people who sought a second opinion went home with a completely new diagnosis.
2017年，梅奥诊所的一项研究发现，五分之一寻求第二意见的人最终得到了全新的诊断。
Another 66 percent got new information or a revised diagnosis.
另有66%的人获得了新的信息或修改了诊断。
A second opinion can also reveal different treatment options.
第二种意见也可能带来不同的治疗方案。
Yet surveys show that more than half of Americans don’t bother, even when faced with a major medical decision.
然而，调查显示，超过一半的美国人即使面临重大的医疗问题，也不会花费精力去这样做。
As Pete and I debated what to do, I understood why.
当皮特和我争论该怎么做时，我明白了原因。
Duke is a three-hour drive away, which seemed like a hassle. We liked the local surgeon.
杜克离这里有三个小时的车程，这似乎很麻烦。我们喜欢当地的外科医生。
Most important, Pete couldn’t wait to get this thing out of his brain.
最重要的是，皮特迫不及待地想排除这个选择。
But the woman from our temple insisted and even called Duke to get an appointment for us.
但我们教堂里的那个女人坚持要我们，甚至还打电话给公爵，为我们预约时间。
That appointment changed everything.
那次预约改变了一切。
