When I started my Ph.D. studies at SUNY at Buffalo in 1990, one of the first books assigned to newbies was A Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar. The book became a favorite of mine. Now fast-forward to 2012. I heard Susan Gubar interviewed about her battle against ovarian cancer. Gubar writes about her horrific treatments that prolonged her life. But the cost! “Debulked” means surgeons removed all the organs in Gubar’s lower abdomen. Then came the rounds of chemotherapy infusions. Then came more surgery…and more surgery. I’m not sure I’d have the resolution to undergo all the medical procedures Gubar does. This is a grim account, but Gubar is still alive which gladdens me immensely. GRADE: B+
I’m not sure I’d have nerve to tackle this one. As with pancreatic cancer, the symptoms of ovarian cancer only show up when the cancer has advanced to a state where it is very difficult to treat. I have a friend (early 40s, two kids) who is battling stage 4 unsourced cancer right now. The doctors speculate that the source is ovarian, but she had a hysterectomy/ovarectomy years ago for an unrelated cause; not sure if anything was biopsied at the time. So women beware: Ovarian cancer can strike, even if you’ve had your ovaries removed.
MEMOIR OF A DEBULKED WOMAN is a harrowing story, Deb. I have a ton of sympathy for Susan Gubar in her fight against ovarian cancer. I don’t think I have her courage to undergo all those operations.
Well, that is what killed my mother. She had a hysterectomy decades ago but they did not take out her ovaries. Now my sister, who had breast cancer two years ago, is thinking about having her ovaries removed.
At this stage that doesn’t sound as crazy as it would have a while ago.
As Susan Gubar says in MEMOIR OF A DEBULKED WOMAN, those women with genetic risks need to consider having their ovaries removed, Jeff. The statistics are scary.
My sister keeps trying to make sure our younger sister is on top of these things, George, but with her you never know what she’s thinking and doing…other than being on Facebook 24/7.
Many of my students are on FACEBOOK 24/7, too, Jeff. It’s an addiction.
I know I would not have the courage to read this.
I had to really push to get through MEMOIR OF A DEBULKED WOMAN, Patti. Every page was a struggle. Susan Gubar’s fight against ovarian cancer is courageous…but grim.
I’d not want to read it. It often seems to me the treatment is worse than just letting things take their course, though that means pain and death. I’d probably change my tune if I were diagnosed with something like prostate or colon cancer, I have no way of knowing want I’d do, and I’m aware I might not be the only one involved in any decision made. I’ll just be thankful that so far I am moderately healthy.
Any reader of MEMOIR OF A DEBULKED WOMAN has to have a firm resolve to finish the book, Rick. The medical treatments Gubar endures are gut-wrenching. Every case is different, but I know I couldn’t go through all the precedures Gubar goes through.
You’d be surprised what you would be able to do in the face of terminal illness. I’m 3 years into ovarian cancer and have had many of the same awful experiences as Susan Gubar. I was given very little information along the way and read Gubar’s marvelous memoir with great interest and excitement. I’m very grateful that Susan Gubar could write this honest and forthright book. Being fed partial information and half truths is scarier than knowing what’s happening. I want to KNOW and nobody wants to tell me.
I’m with you, Audrey. I want to know the truth about my medical situations, both the good news and the bad news. Susan Gubar provides clear information and holds nothing back.