Vital Signs

by Fitzhugh Mullan

A physician recounts his bout with cancer at age thirty-two, evaluates the medical care he received, and describes his arduous recovery

Genres: Memoir, Medical

Paperback

First published February 1, 1983

Reviews

[Deborah Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated this doctor-turned-patient memoir. A realistic look at what it is like to suddenly be on the receiving end of care, grappling with life threatening disease and great dislocation from work, family, community. I especially liked Mullan's discussion of how his experience changed his life and outlook, and how it didn't.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars because I am utterly amazed by the author. I cannot believe that he went through all he did and survived. In fact in 2018 he was 76 years old.

It's an old book, first published in 1975 which recounts the experience of a young doctor diagnosed with cancer. This narrative is brutally honest and recounts the horror of both the disease and its treatments which were as scary as the illness itself. This book is testament to the idea that cancer can be cured by modern medicine (and this was over 40 years ago!!!).

Mullan shares a lot of the psychological trauma of a cancer diagnosis and discovers how the medical system, which he is a part of, depersonalises the patient.

"No amount of medical training and exposure could prepare me for so sudden and drastic an alteration in self-perception"

"... how hobbled a potentially vital human being can become under the assault of disease."

"I was a medical prisoner of war"

Fitzhugh Mullan - how lovely that your endurance with the treatment proved successful. For many, the results are tragically sad.