Returning home from a dinner party, Jack has a coughing fit. His wife Anne is shocked when he coughs up blood all over her and the car. In an examination, Jack has a sample of a growth removed from his throat. The biopsy comes back positive for cancer. His time spent with another, cold impersonal surgeon in this examination is the beginning of his transformation. Further tests and disappointments are blended with scenes of other patients' grace and empathy towards each other and a much better view of the delays and missteps of their doctors and medical support personnel.