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Carcinoma of the breast

In July 1867, Lister discovered that his sister Isabella Pim had breast cancer. At the time, Pim had visited Paget and Syme to seek treatment but had such an extensive carcinoma that both surgeons had advised against operating. Lister made the difficult decision to perform a radical mastectomy. He decided to consult Syme in Edinburgh and rehearsed the operation on a dead body. The procedure took place in his own house. The recovery went smoothly and although there was some suppuration in the wound, Lister's use of antiseptics prevented putrefaction from occurring. The next day he wrote to his father, "I may say the operation was done at least as well as if she was not my sister. But I do not wish to do such a thing again.