CARLTON FLETCHER: Dr. Phillip Roberts’ legacy one of healing, caring

Listen to the cry Of the helpless souls that need you. … You cannot refuse. You will find your own salvation In the path you choose.

— Todd Rundgren

All of the accolades heaped upon Dr. Phillip Roberts last week on the occasion of his retirement were deserved. The dignitaries and fellow physicians who sang Roberts’ praises were worthy participants in the good doctor’s bittersweet send-off.

But if officials with Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital had wanted a true measure of Roberts’ impact on the community, they might have invited the thousands upon thousands of cancer patients who’d received the oncologist’s personal healing care over the years. There would have been some tent-revival type testimony going on.

As medical director of Phoebe’s Cancer Center and as one man who waged a personal war against the dreaded disease — and never doubt it was indeed personal — Roberts extended so many lives with his gentle care and his relentless pursuit of the latest advancements that might allow the people who came to him in their hour of immense darkness to have a fighting chance against an illness that has held sway in this region for far too long.

There’s an old cliche — “Cancer affects all of us” — that’s a cliche because it’s true. But you don’t know how deeply the disease’s impact is until you get to know it up-close and perssonal. It’s a demeaning disease, one that strips you of your pride and your dignity while slowly eating away at your life force. For many of its victims, the only relief is an inevitable end.

But for hundreds upon hundreds more who were cared for by Phillip Roberts (and many other, it must be noted, of the amazing warriors who have dedicated their lives to the never-ending battle), they’re walking among us today because they encountered a man who would not let them give up their fight. In his kind but firm manner — I can’t help but think of Dan Fogelberg’s description “a thundering, velvet hand” — he not only administered the medications and devised the plans of attack for individual patients, he literally willed them to get better.

From the cancer patients who were fortunate enough to have a loved one or loved ones help them endure the hell that is chemotherapy and surgery and radiation to those who fought alone, no Phoebe oncology patient under Roberts’ care was ever allowed to bow to the inevitable until all avenues of care were exhausted.

What seems like a lifetime ago, I talked with Dr. Chuck Mendenhall, the medical director of Phoebe’s Radiation Oncology Department, about Roberts. Mendenhall tell’s a great story about meeting the renowned oncologist when he came to Albany in 1983.

“I’m coming to Phoebe to talk with them about possibly working in radiation oncology at the hospital, and they tell me Dr. Roberts will pick me up at the airport,” Mendenhall says. “I’m really excited about the opportunity because Phillip Roberts had an amazing reputation among people in oncology.

“When the plane lands in Albany, I’m looking forward to getting a tour of the community from Dr. Roberts. Knowing his background, frankly, I’m expecting him to pick me up in some fancy vehicle appropriate for a man of his stature. Well, he comes riding up in this old yellow Volkswagen Beetle. That threw me. Imagine how I felt, though, when we were riding along and I look down and see the highway through the floor of the car.”

Mendenhall’s story may be a truer depiction of Phillip Roberts’ life than that of all the dignitaries in the medical profession and all the community leaders’ words combined. It speaks of a humble man whose concerns are less about the trappings, more about the individuals placed in his care.

Roberts is 73 now, and he’s going to spend more of his time relaxing. He’ll travel and do things with his wife that he’s always been too busy to do in the past. For many, his name will simply become another on the wall of a building. But for the many people whose lives he touched — for the survivors and their families as well as for those whose loved ones lost their fight — the name Phillip Roberts will always be so much more.

His is a name synonymous with hope where little existed. His is a name of genuine care where others saw lost causes. His is a name deserving of the overused title “hero.” For the many lives he touched — including this one — Dr. Roberts can retire confident that in his chosen profession — a profession he was born to — he truly made a difference.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected].