Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis


Lisa Sanders - 2009
    Lisa Sanders, author of the monthly New York Times Magazine column "Diagnosis," the inspiration for the hit Fox TV series House, M.D.The experience of being ill can be like waking up in a foreign country. Life, as you formerly knew it, is on hold while you travel through this other world as unknown as it is unexpected. When I see patients in the hospital or in my office who are suddenly, surprisingly ill, what they really want to know is, ‘What is wrong with me?’ They want a road map that will help them manage their new surroundings. The ability to give this unnerving and unfamiliar place a name, to know it–on some level–restores a measure of control, independent of whether or not that diagnosis comes attached to a cure. Because, even today, a diagnosis is frequently all a good doctor has to offer.A healthy young man suddenly loses his memory–making him unable to remember the events of each passing hour. Two patients diagnosed with Lyme disease improve after antibiotic treatment–only to have their symptoms mysteriously return. A young woman lies dying in the ICU–bleeding, jaundiced, incoherent–and none of her doctors know what is killing her. In Every Patient Tells a Story, Dr. Lisa Sanders takes us bedside to witness the process of solving these and other diagnostic dilemmas, providing a firsthand account of the expertise and intuition that lead a doctor to make the right diagnosis.Never in human history have doctors had the knowledge, the tools, and the skills that they have today to diagnose illness and disease. And yet mistakes are made, diagnoses missed, symptoms or tests misunderstood. In this high-tech world of modern medicine, Sanders shows us that knowledge, while essential, is not sufficient to unravel the complexities of illness. She presents an unflinching look inside the detective story that marks nearly every illness–the diagnosis–revealing the combination of uncertainty and intrigue that doctors face when confronting patients who are sick or dying. Through dramatic stories of patients with baffling symptoms, Sanders portrays the absolute necessity and surprising difficulties of getting the patient’s story, the challenges of the physical exam, the pitfalls of doctor-to-doctor communication, the vagaries of tests, and the near calamity of diagnostic errors. In Every Patient Tells a Story, Dr. Sanders chronicles the real-life drama of doctors solving these difficult medical mysteries that not only illustrate the art and science of diagnosis, but often save the patients’ lives.

The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives


Theresa Brown - 2015
    In the span of twelve hours, lives can be lost, life-altering medical treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. In Brown’s skilled hands--as both a dedicated nurse and an insightful chronicler of events--we are given an unprecedented view into the individual struggles as well as the larger truths about medicine in this country, and by shift’s end, we have witnessed something profound about hope and healing and humanity. Every day, Theresa Brown holds patients' lives in her hands. On this day there are four. There is Mr. Hampton, a patient with lymphoma to whom Brown is charged with administering a powerful drug that could cure him--or kill him; Sheila, who may have been dangerously misdiagnosed; Candace, a returning patient who arrives (perhaps advisedly) with her own disinfectant wipes, cleansing rituals, and demands; and Dorothy, who after six weeks in the hospital may finally go home. Prioritizing and ministering to their needs takes the kind of skill, sensitivity, and, yes, humor that enable a nurse to be a patient’s most ardent advocate in a medical system marked by heartbreaking dysfunction as well as miraculous success.

Blood, Sweat and Tea


Tom Reynolds - 2006
    He has kept a blog of his daily working life since 2003 and his award-winning writing is, by turn, moving, cynical, funny, heart-rending, and compassionate. From the tragic to the hilarious, the stories Tom tells give a fascinatingand at times alarming picture of life in inner-city Britain, and the people who are paid to mop up after it.

Anaphylaxis: A Medical Thriller


Alan Anson Wanderer - 2012
    Leonard Haberman. A malpractice lawsuit ensues, fanned by a politically ambitious senator. Questions arise when it is discovered that the cocaine vaccine specifications are missing along with the head technician who worked closely with the deceased scientist. CBI Agent Ben Locke connects these events with a cold case involving the mysterious death of another scientist and a nefarious plot implicating an organized mob is exposed, placing Haberman and his family at great risk.

It's not the Trauma, It's the Drama: Stories by a Chicago Fire Department Paramedic


Marjorie Leigh Bomben - 2015
    Now a paramedic field chief, Bomben looks back on thirty years of service in It's Not the Trauma, It's the Drama.The twenty true stories Bomben relates are unique—all told from the point of view of a woman rising through traditionally male ranks. Bomben's tales range from funny to gory, from the dangers paramedics face to the history of a venerable old firehouse. Some, of course, are about saving lives. Others are about simply staying alive.From Bomben's first trauma call—the result of a drag race along city streets gone horribly wrong—to her eventual rise through the ranks, her tales shift seamlessly from humorous encounters to descriptions of injuries human beings shouldn't be able to endure. Through it all, It's Not the Trauma, It's the Drama offers a glimpse of the strain and risk experienced by Chicago Fire Department paramedics every day.

Quick, Boil Some Water: The Story of Childbirth in our Grandmother's Day: Volume 1


Yvonne Barlow - 2007
    Today, we hear stories of over-worked midwives and short-staffed hospitals, but the truth is that childbirth has never been easier. For our grandmothers, pregnancy was a journey into the unknown. Rather than ponder which pushchair to buy or fret over towelling versus disposable nappies, they worried about what lay ahead. Home births were often lonely affairs with the midwife or doctor only visiting when birth was imminent. During hospital births, medical staff rarely gave explanations and would push and prod with little offer of pain relief let alone sympathy. Standard care in labour was the O.B.E. - Oil, Bath and Enema. Nursing staff gave firm rules on how long to stay in bed, how to lie in bed and even when to go to the toilet. And life didn't get much easier after giving birth. Taking care of a home and baby was hard work when there were few washing machines, no disposable nappies and heating came from coal carried in from the back yard.

The First Survivors of Alzheimer's: How Patients Recovered Life and Hope in Their Own Words


Dale E. Bredesen - 2021
    In his first two books, Dr. Dale Bredesen outlined the revolutionary treatments that are changing what had previously seemed like the inevitable outcome of cognitive decline and dementia. And in these moving narratives, you can hear directly from the first survivors of Alzheimer's themselves--their own amazing stories of hope told in their own words. These first person accounts honestly detail the fear, struggle, and ultimate victory of each patient's journey. They vividly describe what it is like to have Alzheimer's. They also drill down on how each of these patients made the program work for them--the challenges, the workarounds, the encouraging results that are so motivating. Dr. Bredesen includes commentary following each story to help point readers to the tips and tricks that might help them as well.Dr. Bredesen's patients have not just survived; they have thrived to rediscover fulfilling lives, rewarding relationships, and meaningful work. This book will give unprecedented hope to patients and their families.

Diary of a H.O. (House Officer): A Collection of Short Stories from a Surgeon's First Year of Training.


Brandon Green - 2020
    The book offers insight into 21st century modern healthcare and the state of society. You will laugh, cry, and question your beliefs about the healthcare system and patients. Read this before you go to the doctor next and share this information with your family. Throughout the United States stories like these are unfolding each day as you witness the stress of physician training and the ups and downs of the physician's and patient's lives. Dr. Brandon Green is a pseudonym, or pen name, for author who wishes to remain anonymous. He is an Attending Surgeon at an inner-city Level 1 Trauma Center. The author's goals for writing this book include the following: 1.Create awareness and discussion about today’s healthcare and society. 2.Raise money with 30% of profits from the sale of this book being donated to healthcare non-profit organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and any current global medical pandemic funds. 3.Therapy for the author to recount the intern year, which was more stressful and educational than ever imagined. Unexpected emotions occurred and life lessons were taught beyond the surgical training. The short stories are real occurrences that happened to the author and his other two co-interns in one residency year. The author broke ties with the publisher who wanted to adjust the stories to meet societal norms, and now the work is being self published with profits as above going to charity instead of a large publishing company. The names and locations have been changed to provide privacy protection and follow HIPPA guidelines. The author hopes to continue dialogue and discussion on stories from behind the scenes at hospitals, clinics, and in the operating rooms. It's beneficial to communicate with colleagues and other healthcare professionals and staff running into similar circumstances on a day to day basis. Please visit DIARYOFAHO.COM and email your stories to be published on the website and social media.This is a work of sociology, psychology, medicine, surgery, dealing with the public, putting others ins front of yourself, and self-reflective learning. Any story will be accepted and uploaded into the blog and social media. Stories will be screened for HIPPA compliance prior to publishing online. Thank you for taking the time to read and understand what’s happening in modern healthcare training.

Stone Walls


Kate Sweeney - 2012
    She had everything—fame, endorsements, and any woman she wanted. All was good until a tragic accident put everything in perspective. Tyler was forced to do some serious soul searching, and she was never forced to do anything.RN Rachel Whitaker was no stranger to disastrous circumstances. She left England because of them, hoping to hide in obscurity behind the stone wall she had quietly constructed brick by brick, but taking care of the convalescing arrogant skier was not helping.They annoy each other, help each other, and fight each other on a daily basis and hopefully, find love—before they kill each other.

Medications and Mothers' Milk 2006 (Medications and Mother's Milk)


Thomas W. Hale - 1995
    This book provides you with the most complete, easy to read, and relevant information on breastfeeding and using medications found anywhere in the world. Soon to be in its 4th language, Medications and Mother's Milk is considered the most authoritative source in this field. Written by renowned Clinical Pharmacologist Dr. Thomas W. Hale, this drug reference provides the reader with the most up-to-date information on each drug and its relative safety in breastfeeding mothers and their infants. This comprehensive reference is packed with information on more than 814 drugs, vitamins, hers, vaccines, and their use in breastfeeding mothers, including tables on radioisotopes, radiocontrast agents, and common cold remedies.

HARD ROLL: A Paramedic’s Perspective of Life and Death in New Orleans


Jon McCarthy - 2017
    He chronicles some of the most formative calls of his career in this autobiography that reads like crime fiction. McCarthy demonstrates with detail and clarity that the difficult choice is often the right choice. While not for the faint of heart, each entry in this collection provides poignant insight into the bonds between medics and the people and city they serve.

To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System


Linda T. Kohn - 2000
    That's more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS--three causes that receive far more public attention. Indeed, more people die annually from medication errors than from workplace injuries. Add the financial cost to the human tragedy, and medical error easily rises to the top ranks of urgent, widespread public problems.To Err Is Human breaks the silence that has surrounded medical errors and their consequence--but not by pointing fingers at caring health care professionals who make honest mistakes. After all, to err is human. Instead, this book sets forth a national agenda--with state and local implications--for reducing medical errors and improving patient safety through the design of a safer health system.This volume reveals the often startling statistics of medical error and the disparity between the incidence of error and public perception of it, given many patients' expectations that the medical profession always performs perfectly. A careful examination is made of how the surrounding forces of legislation, regulation, and market activity influence the quality of care provided by health care organizations and then looks at their handling of medical mistakes.Using a detailed case study, the book reviews the current understanding of why these mistakes happen. A key theme is that legitimate liability concerns discourage reporting of errors--which begs the question, "How can we learn from our mistakes?"Balancing regulatory versus market-based initiatives and public versus private efforts, the Institute of Medicine presents wide-ranging recommendations for improving patient safety, in the areas of leadership, improved data collection and analysis, and development of effective systems at the level of direct patient care.To Err Is Human asserts that the problem is not bad people in health care--it is that good people are working in bad systems that need to be made safer. Comprehensive and straightforward, this book offers a clear prescription for raising the level of patient safety in American health care. It also explains how patients themselves can influence the quality of care that they receive once they check into the hospital. This book will be vitally important to federal, state, and local health policy makers and regulators, health professional licensing officials, hospital administrators, medical educators and students, health caregivers, health journalists, patient advocates--as well as patients themselves.First in a series of publications from the Quality of Health Care in America, a project initiated by the Institute of Medicine

Fragile Beginnings: Discoveries And Triumphs In The Newborn ICU


Adam Wolfberg - 2012
    This is a gripping medical narrative that brings readers into the complex world of newborn intensive care, where brilliant but imperfect doctors do all they can to coax life into their tiny, injured patients.

In My Room


Jim Lucey - 2014
    Most of us will never find ourselves on a psychiatrist's couch and yet our lives would be perilous if we did not make space for our mental health. In this space, we can hold up a mirror and acknowledge our search for meaning. By going to the room, life becomes more resourceful and rewarding. In showing up there, we show up for life itself.'Jim Lucey has been working for more than 25 years with patients suffering from mental health problems. When people at their most vulnerable present to his room at St Patrick's University Hospital, Dublin, they reveal their fears, traumas, and very real human predicaments. Most of the assessments described in this book took place in this room. While the patients' stories are diverse, one common theme emerges - that of recovery. The psychiatrist and patients show us that recovery is possible, if we can find a way to engage.Many of us find it difficult to speak of the mind, and care of the mind requires an ability to listen and to reflect. This inspiring book will give you many moments of reflection as you journey with Jim's patients towards recovery, and will restore your faith in the human experience.'Using the art of clinical storytelling, Professor Lucey allows us to enter his room - an extraordinary space where theory informs practice and practice informs theory ... In My Room provides valuable insights that will benefit every human being interested in better understanding mental health. This is a beautiful book that should be read out loud at times, shared with others, and openly discussed' Charlotte R. Shore, RN, BSN, Newton Wellesley Hospital, USA and David A. Shore, PhD, Harvard University

A Low Carbohydrate, Ketogenic Diet Manual: No Sugar, No Starch Diet


Eric C. Westman - 2013
    This manual describes the practical details of a low carbohydrate, ketogenic diet as used by nutritional and medical professionals.