Elizabeth Edwards (1949-2010) survived breast cancer for 6 years. She had the benefits of modern medical science, including anesthesia and painkillers. Despite her disease, Edwards published 2 bestsellers and shared upbeat messages on Facebook about her fate. Two hundred years ago, before the discovery of anesthesia by ether and painkilling pharmaceuticals, the odds of dying from illness and infection were much worse; nevertheless, some breast cancer patients dared to submit to surgery. The stories of 2 such women—Abigail Adams Smith (1765-1813), first-born child of John and Abigail Adams, and British novelist Fanny (Frances) Burney (1752-1840)—have been well-documented, and offer inspiration to breast cancer victims as well as insight into the history of surgery.(1)
When Abigail Adams Smith, or “Nabby,” at age 46, noticed a lump in her breast, she decided to leave her family’s farm in upstate New York and move back to her parents’ home in Quincy, Massachusetts. She consulted with doctors Tufts and Rush, informing them her tumor was moving. Rush responded by mail to her father with this advice: “Her time of life calls for expedition in this business, for tumors such as hers tend much more rapidly to cancer after 45 than in more early life.” She must have a mastectomy.
Several Boston surgeons journeyed to Quincy, among them John Collins Warren, of Ether Dome fame. In November 1811, they performed a mastectomy on their patient in a bedroom of her parents’ home.
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— Helle Mathiasen, CandMag, PhD, AJM Specialty Editor
This article originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
