Mom's Marijuana: Life, Love, and Beating the Odds


Dan Shapiro - 2000
    In this hilarious, high-spirited, sometimes harrowing memoir, Shapiro invites us into his battle with cancer, his romance with an oncology nurse, his journey through graduate school, and his most important life lessons. He tells his story with wit and grace and indomitable spirit, showing us that only when the rhythm of life is stirred violently are able to discover its full beauty.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital


Sheri Fink - 2013
    Months later, several health professionals faced criminal allegations that they deliberately injected numerous patients with drugs to hasten their deaths. Five Days at Memorial, the culmination of six years of reporting, unspools the mystery of what happened in those days, bringing the reader into a hospital fighting for its life and into a conversation about the most terrifying form of health care rationing.In a voice at once involving and fair, masterful and intimate, Fink exposes the hidden dilemmas of end-of-life care and reveals just how ill-prepared we are in America for the impact of large-scale disasters—and how we can do better. A remarkable book, engrossing from start to finish, Five Days at Memorial radically transforms your understanding of human nature in crisis.

My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure


Shawn Decker - 2006
    "I was born in the month of July, and my horoscope sign is a disease (Cancer). The symbol for Cancer? A crab (the sexually transmitted critter). Not only that, my parents named me Shawn Timothy Decker, which makes my initials S.T.D. Shawn Decker isn't quite the all-American boy. Sure, he gets caught shoplifting copies of Penthouse, is crazy about pro wrestling, especially "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, and never has a problem getting dates. But he's also a hemophiliac who discovers, at age eleven, that he has contracted HIV from tainted blood products. Instead of becoming self-pitying and dying (as first predicted), Shawn develops a twisted sense of humor, meets Depeche Mode through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and writes on blogs and in Poz magazine about what it's like being hetero and HIV-positive in rural Virginia. He also turns to gay men for advice on dating women and, almost twenty years after getting HIV, marries Gwenn Barringer, who is HIV-negative and a former competitor for the title of Miss Virginia. Together Shawn and Gwenn travel the country, speaking to high school and college kids about how to live and love with HIV (and how to avoid getting it).

One Hundred Days: My Unexpected Journey from Doctor to Patient


David Biro - 2000
    But what if the person receiving the diagnosis--young, physically fit, poised for a bright future--is himself a doctor?At thirty-one David biro has just completed his residency and joined his father's successful dermatology practice. Struck with a rare blood disease that eventually necessitates a bone marrow transplant, Biro relates with honesty and courage the story of his most transforming journey. He is forthright about the advantages that his status as a physician may have afforded him; and yet no such advantage can protect him from the anxiety and doubt brought on by his debilitating therapies. The pressures that Biro's wild "one hundred days" brings to bear on his heretofore well-established identity as a caregiver are enormous--as is the power of this riveting story of survival.

Healing Children: A Surgeon's Stories from the Frontiers of Pediatric Medicine


Kurt Newman - 2017
    As the current CEO of Children's National in Washington, D.C., the author presents an argument to place children's medical requirements and their need to thrive well into adulthood at the forefront of American medicine, and he admits that 'these kids have been my real teachers

The Drugs Don't Work - A Global Threat


Sally C. Davies - 2013
    For over seventy years, since the manufacture of penicillin in 1943, we have survived extraordinary operations and life threatening conditions. We are so familiar with these wonder drugs that we take them for granted. The truth is that we have been abusing them, as patients, as doctors, as travellers, in our food.No new class of antibacterial has been discovered for over twenty-six years and the bugs are fighting back. If we do not take responsibility now, in a few decades we may start dying from the most commonplace of operations and ailments that can today be treated easily. This penguin special, by Professor Dame Sally C. Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England, is vital in raising awareness for the future health of out children and our grandchildren.

Prehospital Emergency Care


Joseph J. Mistovich - 1996
    This best-selling, student-friendly book contains clear, step-by-step explanations with comprehensive, stimulating, and challenging material that prepares users for real on-the-job situations. Featuring case studies, state-of-the-art scans, algorithms, protocols, and the inclusion of areas above and beyond the DOT protocols, the tenth edition effectively prepares students for success. The assessment and emergency care sections provide the most up-to-date strategies for providing competent care; and the enrichment sections further enhance students ability to assess and manage ill and injured patients in prehospital environments. The text s table of contents is organized to follow the National EMS Educational Standards."

Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics


Roger Walker - 1995
    It covers treatment of common diseases as well as other medical, therapeutic and patient related issues. Written by both pharmacists and clinicians to reflect a team approach, it offers an in-depth analysis of drug therapy in the treatment of disease, relying on input from the pharmacist as a member of the team in hospital and community settings. Information is easy to locate in a logical format organized primarily by systems and disorders.A logical organization and format for each chapter provides consistent features including key points, epidemiology, aetiology, disease, clinical manifestations, investigations and treatment, drugs used in treatment.Convenient tables and boxes highlight supplementary information in the text such as risk factors and dietary guidelines.All chapters close with an evidence-based practice box and case studies that solidify applications of chapter content.More up-to-date information is provided on: rational antibiotic prescribing and the institution of policies; advances in therapy for chronic renal failure and transplants; changes in asthma treatment; and new drugs for epilepsy and Parkinson's.The neurology section has been expanded to include a new chapter on multiple sclerosis, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and treatment.More information has been added related to infertility treatment and menopause.New two-color illustrations make the text more readable and accessible.A greater emphasis on treatment of the patient rather than the diagnosis reflects a shift in focus toward patient-centered care.

Trauma: My Life as an Emergency Surgeon


James Cole - 2011
    Cole's harrowing account of his life spent in the ER and on the battlegrounds, fighting to save lives. In addition to his gripping stories of treating victims of gunshot wounds, stabbings, attempted suicides, flesh-eating bacteria, car crashes, industrial accidents, murder, and war, the book also covers the years during Cole's residency training when he was faced with 120-hour work weeks, excessive sleep deprivation, and the pressures of having to manage people dying of traumatic injury, often with little support.Unlike the authors of other medical memoirs, Cole trained to be a surgeon in the military and served as a physician member of a Marine Corps reconnaissance unit, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and on a Navy Reserve SEAL team. From treating war casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq to his experiences as a civilian trauma surgeon treating alcoholics, drug addicts, criminals, and the mentally deranged, TRAUMA is an intense look at one man's commitment to his country and to those most desperately in need of aid.

Clean: The New Science of Skin


James Hamblin - 2020
    Confusing messages from health authorities and ineffective treatments have left many people desperate for reliable solutions. An enormous alternative industry is filling the void, selling products that are often of questionable safety and totally unknown effectiveness.In Clean, doctor and journalist James Hamblin explores how we got here, examining the science and culture of how we care for our skin today. He talks to dermatologists, microbiologists, allergists, immunologists, aestheticians, bar-soap enthusiasts, venture capitalists, Amish people, theologians, and straight-up scam artists, trying to figure out what it really means to be clean. He even experiments with giving up showers entirely, and discovers that he is not alone.Along the way he realizes that most of our standards of cleanliness are less related to health than most people think. A major part of the picture has been missing: a little-known ecosystem known as the skin microbiome--the trillions of microbes that live on our skin and in our pores. These microbes are not dangerous; they're more like an outer layer of skin that no one knew we had, and they influence everything from acne, eczema, and dry skin to how we smell. The new goal of skin care will be to cultivate a healthy biome--and to embrace the meaning of "clean" in the natural sense. This can mean doing much less, saving time, money, energy, water, and plastic bottles in the process.Lucid, accessible, and deeply researched, Clean explores the ongoing, radical change in the way we think about our skin, introducing readers to the emerging science that will be at the forefront of health and wellness conversations in coming years.

The Pcos Workbook: Your Guide to Complete Physical and Emotional Health


Angela Grassi - 2009
    What does that mean?" "Will I ever be able to have a baby?" "I try to lose the weight, but I'm hungry all the time." "Why can't I just stop eating sugary, fattening foods?" "Why do I have hair growing everywhere and will it ever get better?" "I am so depressed and moody. Is this related to my PCOS?" If any of these statements sound familiar, this workbook can help you! The PCOS Workbook, a practical and comprehensive guide, helps you understand not just the physiology of PCOS, but what you can do about it. Step-by-step guidelines, questionnaires and exercises will help you learn skills and empower you to make positive changes in your life that might not get rid of PCOS, but will help you live with it harmoniously: Lose weight, take control over your eating and improve your health Understand your medical treatment Improve your fertility Manage the stress in your life Be mindful with your eating and in life Challenge body image myths and insecurities Overcome obstacles to becoming more physically active Cope with the challenges of infertility ...and get closer to living the life you want to live!

The Best Medicine: Tales of Humor and Hope from a Small-Town Doctor


Walt Larimore - 2020
    Walt Larimore moved his young family to Kissimmee, Florida, to start a small-town medical practice in 1985, he had no idea he was embarking on an enterprise that would change his life in ways both large and small. But there's no telling what you'll run into as a family physician in a rural, small-town community.Perfect for anyone yearning for a simpler, slower pace of life, as well as fans of Dr. Larimore's popular Bryson City series, The Best Medicine is a tender and insightful collection of stories chronicling one young doctor's passage from inexperience to maturity as a physician, husband, father, and community member. Filled with characters colorful and crusty, warm-hearted and hot-headed, witty and winsome, these captivating stories glow with warmth, love, and humor. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll wish Dr. Larimore was your doctor.

Clinical Hematology Atlas


Bernadette F. Rodak - 1998
    It offers complete coverage of the basics of hematologic morphology, including examination of the peripheral blood smear, basic maturation of the blood cell lines, and discussions of a variety of clinical disorders. Over 400 photomicrographs, schematic diagrams, and electron micrographs visually clarify hematology from normal cell maturation to the development of various pathologies.Normal Newborn Peripheral Blood Morphology chapter covers the unique normal cells found in neonatal blood.A variety of high-quality schematic diagrams, photomicrographs, and electron micrographs visually reinforce your understanding of hematologic cellular morphology.Spiral binding and compact size make this book easy to use in a laboratory setting.Coverage of common cytochemical stains, along with a summary chart for interpretation, aids in classifying malignant and benign leukoproliferative disorders.Morphologic abnormalities are presented in chapters on erythrocytes and leukocytes, along with a schematic description of each cell, to provide correlations to various disease states.Body Fluids chapter covers the other fluids found in the body besides blood, using images from cytocentrifuged specimens.Updated information on the subtypes of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) helps you recognize variant forms of CLL you may encounter in the lab.

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies


Dawn Raffel - 2018
    Dr. Martin Couney's story is a kaleidoscopic ride through the intersection of ebullient entrepreneurship, enlightened pediatric care, and the wild culture of world's fairs at the beginning of the American Century.As Dawn Raffel recounts, Dr. Couney used incubators and careful nursing to keep previously doomed infants alive, while displaying these babies alongside sword swallowers, bearded ladies, and burlesque shows at Coney Island, Atlantic City, and venues across the nation. How this turn-of-the-twentieth-century �migr� became the savior to families with premature infants--known then as "weaklings"--as he ignored the scorn of the medical establishment and fought the rising popularity of eugenics is one of the most astounding stories of modern medicine. Dr. Couney, for all his entrepreneurial gusto, is a surprisingly appealing character, someone who genuinely cared for the well-being of his tiny patients. But he had something to hide...Drawing on historical documents, original reportage, and interviews with surviving patients, Dawn Raffel tells the marvelously eccentric story of Couney's mysterious carnival career, his larger-than-life personality, and his unprecedented success as the savior of the fragile wonders that are tiny, tiny babies.A New York Times Book Review New & Noteworthy Title A Real Simple Best Book of 2018Christopher Award-winner

Bobblehead Dad: 25 Life Lessons I Forgot I Knew


Jim Higley - 2011
    Jim Higley was a forty-year-old bobblehead. Just like those collectible figurines with oversized, bouncy heads, he'd put on a smiling face and bobble through his hectic, overflowing days.Higley's bobbling came to a screeching halt with the diagnosis of cancer, surgery, and a summer of healing. More than a cancer story, however, Bobblehead Dad puts you in a front row seat as the author discovers the illuminating parallels between events in his childhood and his adulthood. Higley, whose weekly fatherhood column appears in the Chicago Tribune's TribLocal, unwraps poignant lessons from his family history with rich, vivid detail. His story reveals meaning in simple moments and the people who fill them--including the surprise discovery of his most important lesson, which had been quietly waiting for over thirty years.