In Sickness: A Memoir

by Barrett Rollins

Overview

A medical emergency forces a brilliant Harvard oncologist to reveal that she has been hiding her advanced breast cancer for a decade. Her husband—also an oncologist—must set aside his anger and feelings of betrayal so that he can care for her during her final year of life.

When Jane, a world-famous Harvard oncologist, suddenly collapses at work, the medical team resuscitating her makes a shocking discovery: she has advanced breast cancer that she’s been hiding for years. The results are catastrophic. In Sickness shows how even the most rational people can be nearly destroyed by their irrational fears. Tragic, moving, and wryly funny at times, this is an unflinching portrayal of a complicated marriage and its secrets.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781637585580
Publisher:	Post Hill Press
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	63,755
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Barrett Rollins is an oncologist and cancer researcher who has published over one hundred scholarly articles, chapters, and books. He is the Linde Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and was, for sixteen years, chief scientific officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Born and raised in Cleveland, he graduated from Amherst College—which also gave him an honorary Doctor of Science—and received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University where he was honored with its Distinguished Alumni Award. He is a long-time trustee of the Interlochen Center for the Arts and lives in Boston with his wife Lynn and their dogs, Skyler and Zeke.

Editorial Reviews

"Why would a distinguished cancer doctor choose to conceal her own cancer? Her husband ponders this conundrum in a book that is by turns loving and angry, as well as disturbing, fascinating, and blisteringly honest. Its readers will think twice before keeping a secret."

Anne Fadiman

"A riveting story, unexpected and all too human, about marriage, illness, and the secrets we feel compelled to keep. It's a reminder that cancer affects the psyche just as much as it does the body."

Siddhartha Mukherjee

Dr. Barrett Rollins is an oncologist who was married to another brilliant world-renowned oncologist, Jane Weeks. But when Weeks was diagnosed with breast cancer, she hid it from him, and everyone else she loved. In this excerpt from his incredibly moving book In Sickness, Dr. Barrett Rollins looks back at why his wife kept this bleak secret—and why he then helped her keep it under wraps.

Katie Couric Media

"A unique story of love and commitment in the face of the shocking relevation of a spouse's hidden cancer. Told with searing honesty and authentic emotion, this book captures our mind and heart from the very first pages and shows us the depth of human resilience under extraordinary circumstances. A remarkable work that illuminates and inspires."

Jerome Groopman MD

2022-09-06
A wife conceals her cancer from her husband until, after 10 years, it becomes impossible.

At the beginning of this painfully moving memoir, Rollins, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, notes that he and his wife, Jane, “worked at the same place—we were doctors at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard’s cancer hospital.” As they walked to lunch one day, Jane collapsed, the result of a blood clot in her lungs—a consequence, the author learned to his dismay, of massive, metastatic breast cancer. When the ER doctor asked about her history with cancer, Rollins admitted that he “knew nothing about the hideous cancer that was threatening her life.” After several days, Jane was well enough to return home. With cure out of the question, Rollins compellingly describes the remaining year of her life, mixing a detailed account of the complex nursing and medical care she received with the poignant story of their marriage and his attempts to cope with the circumstances. Readers will learn that his wife, although brilliant, charismatic, and popular at work and clearly in love with her husband, had her share of “quirky” personality traits. At home, she preferred to watch TV and play computer games, leaving housework, meals, shopping, and even driving to her husband. Although they had a few close friends from work, she did not enjoy socializing with other family members, including his daughter from a previous marriage, with whom he was extremely close. Rollins had long been aware that Jane “never had a primary care doctor and never went to a routine medical appointment,” and he learned—after discovering a hidden trove of self-prescribed medication—that she had been treating herself for her cancer. The author also looks back on his own life, attempting to explain why he yielded such unwavering control to his wife.

Other peoples’ marriages are often beyond comprehension, but this is an eloquent, compulsively readable account.

Kirkus Reviews