A second appendix to the successful treatment of cancer : to which are added, a few remarks on the improved treatment of fistula / by John Pattison.

  • Pattison, John.
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A second appendix to the successful treatment of cancer : to which are added, a few remarks on the improved treatment of fistula / by John Pattison. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Cancer by mere local means, have repeatedly stated that their treatment is precisely the same as that employed by me ; and this deception has induced more than one simple sufferer to place themselves under their care, and thereby cause them excruciating torture, by using chloride of zinc, or some other caustic, for the removal of the local disease, which, possessing no constitutional effect, removes only for a time, the disease being certain to reappear in an exaggerated form. That imper- fect and crude instrument, the knife, is less cruel, and its results are equally certain as the use of caustics.* was there to receive me. He was all smiles, all attention. I gave my advice, and wrote out my directions plainly and fully, so that there could be no mistake. This honourable gentleman promised me faithfully that he would attend to my instructions, and see that they were strictly carried out. My suspicions, however, by his too plausible manner were aroused. In a few days I received a letter stating that the sufferer was no better, but rather worse. I immediately wrote to the husband, stating my sus- picions to him, and requested him to send me samples of the medicines supplied by his surgeon. I had them analyzed : they were not what I had ordered. If this lady had died I should have considered that surgeon as having been guilty of manslaughter, and I am sure all right-thinking persons can only view it in the same light. This lady recovered when brought under the influence of the proper remedies, which I afterwards always sent her myself. * It was only yesterday (29th November, 1859), that I saw a lady who had been under one of these caustic doctors for five months. In the month of April, 1858, she noticed a small tumour in her right breast, which caused her no pain, but becom- ing alarmed, she placed herself under a foreigner’s care. Her agonies were most excruciating; for nine weeks she was unable to lie down, in constant agony day and night; but what was still worse, the irritation that was produced was so great that, in spite of every effort, the disease increased faster than it could be removed. This constant suffering was endured for five months, when, finding matters getting daily worse, her medical attendant coolly told her he could do nothing more. She then returned home, broken in health and spirits, and determined for the future to do nothing, although her sufferings continued, but quietly to submit to God’s will. A lady who had been cured by me, however, heard of her sad state, and pointed out to her the constitutional nature of my treatment, and the complete alleviation from pain and suffering that she herself had experienced. These representations shed a gleam of hope, and the poor sufferer came up to consult me. I found a sad state of affairs indeed. A small tumour, probably at the time not malignant, had, through mal-practice, degenerated into the most frightful form of this frightful disease. The breast having been all removed, I found the ribs themselves in a state of ulcerated Cancer. The armpit3 were filled and hardened by disease, the arm was swollen, and the womb was also found to be seriously affected. Yet, even in such a far advanced case asthis, I trust that I will bo enabled to alleviate her sufferings, and to prolong her life for a time, with comparative ease to herself and comfort to her family.