A fine piece of writing
Online posting: February 26, 1997
Published in print: April 15, 1997 CMAJ 1997;156:1119
Re: Surviving breast cancer, An emergency physician faces the fight of her life, by Dr. Maria Hugi, CMAJ 1997;156:397-9
I just read Dr. Maria Hugi's account of her experience with breast cancer. It may be the best piece of medical journalism I have ever read. Her complete candour about all of the effects cancer had on her life — professional, marital, sexual and parental -- and, by implication, on her spirit, are utterly refreshing. Her terse, matter-of-fact style made the unspoken anguish all the more apparent, but only because of this candour.
Rare indeed must be the physician who can discuss the sexual side effects of hormonal therapy, attend a doctor-bashing support-group meeting and admit that her clinical skills had atrophied, and do so in a public forum. Rarer still must be physicians who can read this and not see their next patient with cancer, or even anxious about cancer, in a different light.
I suppose, ideally, that the fact that this story came from a fellow physician should not increase its relevance to us, but I believe that it does, immensely. Perhaps this is because so much of what I see as a neurologist is not what it seems, even regarding physical signs. I sometimes have difficulty believing something is the way it is until I find a physician, presumably as objective about medical matters as I am, who is experiencing it. I have thought, since my oncology rotation during internship, that the experiences of physicians with cancer could be a vast source of information about the human side of cancer. Time and again, while administering heroic chemotherapy in what was fairly obviously the last weeks of a person's life, I asked myself, "Is this what a knowledgeable physician, a truly informed person, would want?" I still do not know the answer to that question, but I do know a whole lot more about humanity's gritty survival instincts, hinted at in Hugi's article. Thoughtful physicians who read it cannot help but improve or renew their appreciation for the experiences of patients with cancer, particularly woman with breast cancer.
Keep up the good work, Dr. Hugi (and I love the name of your support group, "Treasure Chests").
John C. Hostetler, MD
Kingston, Ont.
johnhos@istar.ca
CMAJ email
CMAJ Readers' Forum