Dear Rae -

I will of course pass on everyone's concerns, although I suspect bobber is actually reading the thread: he just can't type.

On you questions, CYA is widely used a acronym, for "cover your [posterior]," and "describes professional and organizational practices that serve to protect oneself from legal and administrative penalties, criticism, or other punitive measures." This is taken from a helpful little Wikipedia article on the topic, but the incredibly sensitive software on NT prevents me from even entering the URL. To see it, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ and fill in the search box on your left.

And yes, you have the gist of Dead Man Walking. I lifted it from a 1993 book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean, a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, recounting her struggles on behalf of condemned prisoners. In 1995, a more widely known film based on the book was made, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. According to the Wilipedia article:

The title comes from a phrase once traditional in American prisons, to designate a man condemned to death. Prior to the 1960s, when wardens would lead a condemned man down the prison hallway, they would call out, "Dead man walking! Dead man walking here!" Why was this said? There are various opinions. It may have been to warn other wardens or prisoners, to let them know they should be on their guard since a death row prisoner has nothing to lose and could be violent. It may also have been a kind of honorific declamation, to let other prisoners know that they should move out of the way - death row prisoners being seen as a kind of elite within the prison system. Alternatively, the call may have been a stigma attached to the condemned man, to remind others within earshot not to touch him in order not to catch his bad luck. In any case, its logic is clear: the condemned prisoner, in the eyes of the law, was dead already. The phrase was regarded as cruel and unusual by civil rights activists, and was subsequently outlawed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man_Walking

However, the use of the term is my own. But based on our long conversation last night, that's the essence of the understanding the ortho conveyed to bobber earlier in the day, as to how Dr. W sees his situation right now. While everything about him looks intact, he's seen what awaits, and it isn't pretty.

I suppose he first started calling the ortho to see how bobber was, and may have provided a ton of excuses along the way. But I suspect the real reason is that his anxiety is out of control and it's easier to touch base with the ortho than tell his own wife. Of course, that's just a bold-faced guess. And more importantly, our sympathies lie elsewhere.

Mike