Medical Memoirs

This is the true story of a very special man whose life was suddenly and forever changed by a rare disease. Dealing with a severe backache for three days, he was taken to an emergency room. For five grueling months, his dignity, as well as his very self was stripped away. Trapped in a system that all too often is not healthcare, but Healthcareless.

In Portrait of a Kaleidoscope Life, Dr. Douglas Johnson shares a dazzling mosaic of moments that are as daring as they are transformative. From bloody bullfights and failed parachute jumps to conducting cancer research and surviving his own diagnosis, his life defies convention and embraces reinvention. Along the way, he finds himself caught in the collapse of the Shah of Iran, the chaos of the Desert One rescue mission, and the shadows of nuclear disasters like Chernobyl.

When Tony Moretti began caring for his Parkinson’s-stricken father, Vince, he thought, How hard could this be? But as the years mounted and Vince’s symptoms progressed, Tony found himself floundering on a monumental journey . . . and there were no answers at the back of the proverbial book. With the support of his wife, their four adult kids, and his three out-of-town siblings (Team Vince!), Tony followed his instincts while navigating Vince’s ever-shifting needs, HMO foibles, and his own father-son baggage.

For years, they came in on weekends to plan and practice—nearly sixty surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists, preparing to harmonize in a vast medical symphony. For the team at Mayo Clinic, it was their most complex surgery to date: a face transplant. At the heart of this event was Andy Sandness. He grappled with feelings of isolation and shame after a disfiguring suicide attempt but was determined to reclaim his future, to be seen as ordinary, and to belong again.

Haunting, lyrical, unforgettable, Girl in the Dark is a brave new memoir of a life without light. Anna Lyndsey was young and ambitious and worked hard; she had just bought an apartment; she was falling in love. Then what started as a mild intolerance to certain kinds of...

It begins with numbness on her left leg. Then it spreads. Even though an MRI finds a "mass" on her brainstem, it takes two more years for Meredith O'Brien to learn what is causing that numbness. Months after her sixty-five-year-old mother dies from a fast-moving cancer, weeks after her father is hospitalized and she experiences an unexpected job change, she learns she has multiple sclerosis. Suddenly, Meredith, a married mother of three teens, has to figure out how to move forward into a life she no longer recognizes.

When Ronald Reagan chose C. Everett Koop to be Surgeon General of the United States in 1981, liberal politicians, women's groups, and even the public health community opposed the nomination because of his conservative social views and strong anti-abortion beliefs. By the time he left office in 1989, the same people who had vilified him as "Dr. Kook" were singing his praises, and many conservative politicians and activists were criticizing him as a traitor.

Just when Linda Varisco thought the storm had passed, her life plunges even deeper into turmoil, forcing her to confront the unimaginable. With her dazzling million-dollar smile now hiding more secrets than it reveals, Linda bravely steps into single parenthood, rebuilding her chiropractic practice and trying to piece together a new normal from the shattered fragments left behind by her husband’s betrayal and addiction.

The follow up to Suzanne's Best of Year debut memoir, FRONTAL MATTER: GLUE GONE WILD, STARGAZING is a humorous look at piecing a life back together after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

DESPRE AUDIOBOOK. Poate că nimic nu ne pregătește pentru confesiunile brutal de sincere ale unui copil diferit de restul lumii, ajuns la maturitate. Patric Gagne a avut curajul să relateze cu lux de amănunte drumul de la inocență și deznădejde la maturitate și speranță. De la condamnare socială și respingere la prețuire publică și acceptare. Este vorba despre o aventură năucitoare prin labirintul tenebros al unei afecțiuni mintale care oferă, prea des, numai perspective sumbre. Dar apare o scânteie. Desigur, dragostea. E singura lumină călăuzitoare.

Ein Moment im Leben, der alles veränderte – live im Fernsehen. Mario D. Richardt wurde vor laufenden Kameras mit einer uncharmanten Aussage konfrontiert: Du hast ja ganz schön zugenommen! Dieser peinliche Augenblick entpuppte sich als Wendepunkt in Marios Leben. Warum nahm er stetig zu, obwohl er seine Essgewohnheiten nicht verändert hatte? Die Diagnose Insulinresistenz trifft ihn wie ein Blitz aus heiterem Himmel. Und er ist nicht allein: Ein erheblicher Anteil der übergewichtigen Menschen kämpft mit diesem Problem.

Wie ist es, seit fünfzig Jahren mit einem Pfeifton im Ohr zu leben? Und: Woher kommt er überhaupt? Wie kann eine Einladung zum "Literarischen Quartett" zu einer Knieverletzung führen? Wie bricht man sich beim Meditieren einen Knochen? Axel Hacke weiß es und erzählt in diesem Buch die Geschichte und Geschichten seines eigenen Körpers, vom Standpunkt eines Mannes in der zweiten Hälfte der Sechziger aus gesehen: Es geht um die Gebrechen, aber auch um die Triumphe des Körpers und um das große, nie nachlassende Staunen über das Funktionieren desselben.

Life's core is wavered from delight and dismay, teaching us that in our delicate moments of vulnerability, we discover heartfelt associations that attach us to each other and the universe. You will find this deep-seated truth of existence in Brian Sims's book "The Color of Their Tears." This book is crafted with the precision of a surgeon's hand and the soul of a poet; it analyzes the flimsy harmony between expectancy and heartbreak, love and loss.

When Robert Routt collapsed alone in his home, his life quietly slipped away. His mother couldn’t reach him. His daughter found him unresponsive. Paramedics arrived—and found no pulse. After six shocks, one rookie brought him back from the edge of death. What followed was a coma, a stroke, paralysis, and a long fight to reclaim his life one painful step at a time.

Acclaimed CBS News reporter Barry Petersen writes about hearing the unimaginable; what it meant, what it still means, what he did---and didn't do---and how this beautiful love story needs to be heard by the thousands of families who have already heard that same devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Even though Barry has spent his long-time, award-winning television career covering wars and events that shaped the world, he was not even slightly prepared for what happened to his darling wife, Jan, and how it would impact his life.

In When There Are Two Patients in One Body, an experienced Labor and Delivery nurse shares a collection of birth stories, some joyful and others harrowing, that reveal profound life lessons from one of the most intense human experiences. While babies arrive either by vaginal delivery or caesarean section, each birth unfolds uniquely, whether as a momentous and thrilling event or an unexpected and life altering ordeal. This book follows the author's career, presenting a chronological journey through a diverse array of births, each story interwoven with her personal reflections.

After years of hearing that she was an inspiration to family and friends, Heather decided to strive to inspire a larger audience by writing. Citing a lifetime of personal experiences, she gives her listeners an inside look at her world of insane medical drama, PTSD, pain, grief, and loss. She shares that the only way she has learned to accept each situation she has had to endure was to allow herself time to grieve. She knows that the only way to find lasting peace in the midst of life's many storms may require going through the grief cycle over and over again.

In this must-listen book for any practitioner, carer or patient, Eleanor Oyston shares her story of bringing oncology massage to Australia. After many years as a scientist, Eleanor went from diagnosing cancer in a lab to massaging clients with a variety of medical conditions. Very quickly, she witnessed the amazing benefits and knew she wanted to spread the word.

Growing up as the daughter of a dedicated surgeon, Elizabeth L. Silver felt an unquestioned faith in medicine. When her six-week-old daughter, Abby, was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit with sudden seizures, and scans revealed a serious brain bleed, her relationship to medicine began to change. The Tincture of Time is Silver's gorgeous and haunting chronicle of Abby's first year. It's a year of unending tests, doctors' opinions, sleepless nights, and, above all, uncertainty.

Because I Loved You is a breathtaking memoir that begins as a once-in-a-lifetime love story and transforms into a courageous, heart-wrenching journey through terminal illness and the powerful, legal choice to die with dignity in California.