"The Emperor of All Maladies - A Biography of Cancer"

I just finished reading "The Emperor of All Maladies - A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee. I highly recommend it. You can read the reviews on-line; it's sold on Amazon or at any book store.

Comments

  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    Thank you.
    I am going to read the reviews and check it out. Thanks for sharing.

    Here is the link for Amazon and the reviews if any one wants to check it out.
  • Hal61
    Hal61 Member Posts: 655
    Thanks
    . . . for the recommendation. I read three reviews. My favorite was by an author and professor of medical journalism and related at Columbia University that appeared in the NY Times.

    In the Seventies the "war" on cancer was on. This is from the review:

    "The “iconic battleground” of the time was the chemotherapy ward, Mukherjee (book's author) writes, “a sanitized vision of hell.” Typically it was a kind of limbo, almost a jail, in which absolutely no one spoke the word “cancer,” the inmates’ faces had an orange tinge from the drugs they were given, and windows were covered with heavy wire mesh to keep them from committing suicide."

    The stigma is still with us, but certainly less than it was then, but may be why we often say "c" here instead of cancer.

    Hal
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    Hal61 said:

    Thanks
    . . . for the recommendation. I read three reviews. My favorite was by an author and professor of medical journalism and related at Columbia University that appeared in the NY Times.

    In the Seventies the "war" on cancer was on. This is from the review:

    "The “iconic battleground” of the time was the chemotherapy ward, Mukherjee (book's author) writes, “a sanitized vision of hell.” Typically it was a kind of limbo, almost a jail, in which absolutely no one spoke the word “cancer,” the inmates’ faces had an orange tinge from the drugs they were given, and windows were covered with heavy wire mesh to keep them from committing suicide."

    The stigma is still with us, but certainly less than it was then, but may be why we often say "c" here instead of cancer.

    Hal

    Hal
    Whoa. I didn't read that review. I cannot express how disturbing that is. :(
  • Hal61
    Hal61 Member Posts: 655

    Hal
    Whoa. I didn't read that review. I cannot express how disturbing that is. :(

    "Was", Sweet
    Didn't mean to disturb Sweet. It's from the book, part of the history on cancer. I know you know, what people with psychological problems were subjected to. Medicine has improved across the board. Cancer is now a celebrity cause, but it still causes unease. People still say the darndest things when you tell them you've been diagnosed with cancer. But hey, we've got better medicine, better prognosis, and the surviors here to support us. We're o.k.

    Hal
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    Hal61 said:

    "Was", Sweet
    Didn't mean to disturb Sweet. It's from the book, part of the history on cancer. I know you know, what people with psychological problems were subjected to. Medicine has improved across the board. Cancer is now a celebrity cause, but it still causes unease. People still say the darndest things when you tell them you've been diagnosed with cancer. But hey, we've got better medicine, better prognosis, and the surviors here to support us. We're o.k.

    Hal

    Yes, 'was'. Thank goodness!
    Yes, 'was'. Thank goodness! Yes, I do know the horrors people went thru with psychiatric problems. Still disturbing to think of.

    As barbaric as I found my 'treatment', thinking about how barbaric things were in the past- wow. So much worse.
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member

    Thank you.
    I am going to read the reviews and check it out. Thanks for sharing.

    Here is the link for Amazon and the reviews if any one wants to check it out.

    Hi UWSNYC
    Thanks for the info.


    Sweet
    You are amazing with your hyperlinks


    Thanks
    Hondo
  • buzz99
    buzz99 Member Posts: 404
    Emperor of all Maladies
    I read it and noted that cisplatin was referred to cisflatten because it flattened the patients! We have come a long way.