Bedside Manners

As Joyce Novaks daughter, Marnie, completes medical school and looks ahead to a surgical internship, her wedding, and a future filled with promise, a breast cancer diagnosis throws Joyces own future into doubt. Always the caregiver, Joyce feels uncomfortable in the patient role, especially with her husband and daughter. As she progresses through a daunting treatment regimen including a biopsy, lumpectomy, and radiation, she distracts herself by planning Marnies wedding. When the sudden death of a young heroin addict in Marnies care forces Marnie to come face-to-face with mortality and her professional inadequacies, she also realizes she must strike a new balance between her identity as a doctor and her role as a supportive daughter. At the same time, she struggles with the stark differences between her fiancs family background and her own and comes to understand the importance of being with someone who shares her values and experiences. Amid this profound soul-searching, both Joyce and Marnies futures change in ways they never would have expected.