ACTRESS BEATS CANCER

[Tan Elaine]

ACTRESS BEATS CANCER

During a routine annual checkup early last year, lumps were observed in her left breast. After going through an operation, she had had six cysts removed, but not that one of them turned up to be a cancerous lump.

The above is from our local newspaper.

I don't understand the last sentence. Does the actress have cancer? Thanks.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Not that one of them" is incorrect. It should be "not one of them."

If none of the lumps removed were, in fact, cancerous, then she did not "beat cancer." She had a "cancer scare."

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

There appear to be a couple of typos in your post.
If the sentence is actually, "After going through an operation she had six cysts removed, but not one of them turned out to be a cancerous lump." then it means that she doesn't have cancer now, and didn't have it before the operation either.

 

[Tan Elaine]

I am not a teacher.

There appear to be a couple of typos in your post.
If the sentence is actually, "After going through an operation she had six cysts removed, but not one of them turned out to be a cancerous lump." then it means that she doesn't have cancer now, and didn't have it before the operation either.

Thanks, Roman.

The typos are not mine. I have reproduced the sentences as they appear in the newspaper.

After going through an operation, she had had six cysts removed, but not (that) one of them turned up to be a cancerous lump.

I wonder whether had had is correct. Should it be just had?

 

[bhaisahab]

Thanks, Roman.

The typos are not mine. I have reproduced the sentences as they appear in the newspaper.

After going through an operation, she had had six cysts removed, but not (that) one of them turned up to be a cancerous lump.

I wonder whether had had is correct. Should it be just had?

Neither one makes complete sense. I very much doubt that she had the cysts removed after the operation.

 

[Barb_D]

Okay, I did some looking around on the Internet.
She had six cysts removed. One of them actually was cancerous. She went on to have chemo. She has now beaten the cancer.

She told people about the cysts, but not about the cancer (at that time).
We are now talking about a statement she made before - hence the past pefect.
She said she had had six cysts removed, but not that one of them was a tumor. = She omitted the information about the tumor.

 

[Tan Elaine]

Thanks, Bhaisahab.

After going through an operation, she had had six cysts removed, but not (that) one of them turned up to be a cancerous lump.

I think the sentence should be: "While undergoing an operation, she had six cysts removed, but not one of them turned up to be a cancerous lump."

Do you agree? Or would you phrase it differently?

PS Barb posted before I did.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

This has suddenly become a lot clearer.

The problem comes from the fact that the original article appears to be a newspaper report and not a quote from the actress.
Pretty sloppy editing I'd say.

 

[Barb_D]

Indeed. Insert "she said" or even "she had said" after the word "operation" and we would have had total clarity.

In short, she hid her cancer under the guise of more routine surgery until now.

 

[Tan Elaine]

Following Barb's search on the Internet, I also looked up in Google and found the following.

SINGAPORE: Singapore actress Pan Ling Ling recently revealed that she had breast cancer, but said the cancer is now in remission after she underwent treatment for it.

Pan told web portal xinmsn that she found out she had breast cancer in March last year, and decided to undergo surgery to remove six malignant growths.

Looks like TODAY has done its readers a disservice by reporting "During a routine annual checkup early last year, lumps were observed in her left breast. After going through an operation, she had had six cysts removed, but not (that) one of them turned up to be a cancerous lump. (It is a total distortion of the truth.)

 

[Barb_D]

Looks like TODAY has done a disservice by reporting "During a routine annual checkup early last year, lumps were observed in her left breast. After going through an operation, she had reported that she had had six cysts removed, but not that one of them turned up to be a cancerous lump. (It is a total distortion of the truth.)

Look at what I inserted with the underline. Now it makes perfect gramamtical sense. I saw one story that said only one of the six was cancerous. I didn't see the story that said that all six were. If the report that only one was cancerous, it makes grammatical and semantic sense. It was sloppy editing, not a gross distortion, to leave out that the part of the sentence we were struggling with was a quote from the actress herself.

 

[Barb_D]

Here are some other examples.

You are going to Lisa's party. You are going with Jason.
You say to me "Yes, I'm going to Lisa's party." You say nothing to me about Jason.

Later a friend says to me "Hey, did you know Tan Elaine was dating Jason? They were holding hands at Lisa's party."

I say "No! She told me she was going to Lisa's party, but not that she was going with Jason." --- You omitted the information about Jason.

***
My cat had kittens. Two were gray tigers, one was black and white, and one was all black.

I say "My cat had kittens! They are so cute! I hope I can find good homes for all of them."

Later, a friend is talking to you. He knows you really want an all-black cat. He suggests you ask me for one of my kittens.

You say "She told me that her cat had had kittens, but not that one was all black." --- I omitted the colors of the kittens.

 

[Raymott]

SINGAPORE: Singapore actress Pan Ling Ling recently revealed that she had breast cancer, but said the cancer is now in remission after she underwent treatment for it.

This is also ambiguous. It would be better as, "Pan Ling Ling recently revealed that she had had breast cancer"
It's probably arguable about whether she still has cancer now, but the line with "had" to me means that what she recently revealed was "I have breast cancer".