about M.J.Markoff

As a retired board-certified oral & maxillofacial surgeon, I worked in the trenches of humanity vs. disease. I’ve been published in my profession’s journal: International Journal of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, and Oral Pathology, in a hobbyist’s newsletter: Triangle Bonsai Society, and in Johnston County Literary and Historical Journal. I’m a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, Neuse River Writers, and International Thriller Writers.

Writing Double Blind made me reflect on my involvement with cancer: No, thank God none of my family had it, except for my maternal grandfather (I’m told I’m his ‘spitting-image’) who died in the 1940’s from leukemia.

Dental school training taught me how to screen for oral cancer. This extended into my oral & maxillofacial surgery residency, where I participated in tumor board conferences, took biopsies, did initial readings of slides for pathologists, and participated in oral management, repair, and reconstruction during and after cancer treatment. In my private practice, I often made the presumptive cancer diagnosis and was the one giving the good, or not-so-good, news after the biopsy results. I lost many a night’s sleep imagining how the anxious patient would deal with the terrible news. Strangely, they took it far better than I dreaded. Maybe that was because it was presented along with an immediate appointment with the best oncology team on the East Coast. Patients could then take prompt steps in their treatment.

At thirty-one, I was athletic and healthy, with a wife, a young son, and twins on the way. When I began experiencing significant fatigue, my internist drew routine blood work. A few days later, he called, insisting that I immediately see his oncologist friend in the local ER for a stat bone marrow biopsy. Results were indeterminate, and I got a bone scan, making me temporarily radioactive; not good for hugging a pregnant wife. I can definitely relate to the uncertainty stage of cancer fears. It turned out that tainted tryptophan nutritional supplements had damaged my bone marrow. No cancer, and I luckily recovered.
At forty, I ran in the New York City Marathon, collecting donations on behalf of the Leukemia Society, and in the name of my grandfather, who died of leukemia. My wife and I have been long-term donors to St. Jude’s Hospital.

I’ve worn many, but thankfully not every hat involved with cancer; it’s allowed me a close enough vantage point to empathize and to wholeheartedly support the organizations, researchers, caretakers, and those coping with cancer through word and deed.
A retired New Jerseyite, I now live with my wonderful wife and a sweet labradoodle in Clayton, North Carolina, where I write, maintain an extensive bonsai collection, and sing in a rock band.