Grey's Anatomy producer: Why I decided to turn my bone cancer "disability" into a storyline

The Hollywood Reporter

Co-executive producer Elisabeth Finch writes of penning Thursday's episode: "When breaking the episode in the writers' room, words like 'win' and 'battle' and 'brave' and 'cowardly' would pop up occasionally as we discussed Thatcher's choice to stop treatment or Catherine's decision to not disclose her illness. Someone wondered aloud if Catherine's story might give cancer patients false hope, since my case was so rare. Our writers' room is made of professional empaths — big-hearted, brilliant, thoughtful human beings from all backgrounds. The fact that those questions still came up made it clear how deeply ingrained in our DNA these value judgments are toward people with cancer. And it became even clearer why this story was so necessary to tell."