Mastectomies were chancy but not wholly uncommon. Modern doctors now credit the 18th century for the first successful procedures of delivering women from breast cancer. The credit is shared by the French doctor, Jean Louis Petit and the Scottish doctor, Benjamin Bell. Figuring out the connection between breast cancer and the lymph nodes in the armpits, both doctors removed the lymph nodes, breast tissue, and even breast muscles. Ouch!
While we still don't have a cure, I can imagine our contemporary treatments, however painful, are a vast improvement on a Petit or Bell mastectomy.
Visit TheBreastCancerSite.com to donate a free mammogram and buy some goodies to help support breast cancer research. Mary Astell would approve!
First of all, I must say that the title of this post is perhaps the best I've ever seen. Secondly, it vividly reminds me of the scene from the fabulous 2008 John Adams mini-series during which his daughter has her breast removed. She survived the surgery, but what a horrific ordeal! I still cringe just picturing it in my mind's eye. While breast cancer remains terrifying, such procedures are a grave reminder of the blessings of modern medicine.
ReplyDeleteI remember first reading Frances Burney's diary account of her mastectomy from the early 1800s -- the wine they offered her as an anaesthetic, the surgery performed while she tried not to scream. And yet she lived. Amazing. I'll donate a mastectomy in honor of the brave women who pioneered on our behalf.
ReplyDeletegreat post!! I would love to hear some of those women's stories!
ReplyDeleteI love your informative posts. And yes, breast cancer is a very serious issue to many contemporary women. Medicine has a much greater handle on the issue but at the same time, it seems to be getting more and more complex. Thanks for another great post.
ReplyDeleteAu Revoir,
♥Danette
Blogger, Tulip aka Sakisaki6 just linked me to the Burney account. Read if you dare (I credit with the sudden sense of nausea I just got)
ReplyDeletehttp://wesclark.com/jw/mastectomy.html
Yes, I remember reading the Burney account when I was a teenager. It does haunt you. Thanks for the excellent post!
ReplyDeleteWow, I feel great sympathy for those women. It is a really terrifying thing to think about going through.
ReplyDeleteAlthough breast cancer research is important, we also should remember that lung cancer kills more women and heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men. Eat healthy and don't smoke! Those things will lower the risk for all of these causes of death.
I haven't read the account but by the pictures tell me they didn't just lop the breast off so to speak? I can't imagine the pain. There's not enough wine to make this unbearable. I know I should read the account but I just don't think that's possible. I had a hard enough time just reading about a friends treatment several years ago.
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