Sid Mukerjee vowed that he would write his book on the history of cancer – The Emperor of Maladies – from the perspective of the patient, despite his own background as a doctor.
“If I could tell their stories, I could paint a very large canvas with very small brush strokes,” Mukerjee said. “That is how I was able to navigate writing the book.”
Mukerjee, a bestselling author, spoke Friday at Long Wharf Theatre’s Global Health and the Arts, an event dedicated to the finding the intersection between science and art. Doctors, researchers and members of the pharmaceutical industry got together for a daylong panel on the Mainstage to discuss innovations in cancer treatment and research. The group would then proceed to Stage II to see a performance of Agnes Under the Big Top, a play in which the lead character, Agnes, faces her life after receiving a prognosis of terminal cancer.
Mukerjee discussed a couple of key instances that inspired him to move forward with his book. “People told me that no one would read a book about cancer that is over 600 pages long and in parts not particularly cheerful,” he joked.
But a meeting with his editor helped encourage him that there was a story to be told. “One writer can communicate with one reader, sitting alone in a room … Medicine is about communication, a conversation between one doctor, communicating with one patient sitting in the same room,” Mukerjee said.
Doctor as storyteller and communicator is not a new phenomenon. Mukerjee said that medicine begins with a simple statement from a doctor to a patient – “Tell me your story.” “If I could just tell the stories of the patients, I could navigate my way through a very large, very complex history,” Mukerjee said.
Doctors face a real conundrum when treating the ravages of cancer – why bother, if the person is only going to get sicker? Why go through the motions when the solution is not readily apparent? Every patient is different and every age has its advancements that allow doctors to continue their work with greater and greater results. As Mukerjee said, you can’t get a cure without getting to care.
“The peculiar thing about our specialty is that uncertainty gives us hope. Living in uncertainty is medicine’s defense against nihilism,” he said.
To read more about Mukerjee’s work, check out this profile in the New York Times. http://nyti.ms/fAaZ4L