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Title: As I Live and Breathe: Notes of a Patient-Doctor by Jamie, Dr. Weisman ISBN: 0-86547-669-1 Publisher: North Point Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.15 (13 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Well Written and Compelling
Comment: I really couldn't put this book down once I got started, which was about 44 hours ago. This book is autobiography or memoir (I really don't know the difference) and is a quick read at 243 pages because Jamie Weisman herself is only 36 or 37 years old.
What is compelling about this book is Weisman's honest look at her congenital immune deficiency, the way she has dealt with and the way it has affected the significant people in her lives (her parents, her husband). A big part of the way that she has chosen to deal with this disease is by going to medical school and becoming a doctor. One of the most powerful passages in the book is when she writes, "...... I start medical school. I come to know far more about immune deficiencies than my father does. I find my own doctors and Emory University and begin making my own decisions about my health care...... I have relieved my father of the double burden of not only loving me while I am sick but also having to be my doctor" (pg 194). This passage is powerful for me because, to my mind, she has taken responsibility for her life, gained as much knowledge as possible about her condition, and is relying on herself to manage it.
I also really liked the fourth chapter, "All Too Human", where she talks about the inevitability of errors in medecine. Doctors are people, too; hospitals are worked in by people. Too many people just treat doctors like omniscient gods but they are not; they are limited and fallible people, like everyone else.
The third chapter, "Beautiful Failure", is mainly about a surgeon who removed a hideous lump from her face and gave her back her appearance. There is a twist and it is really a powerful and beautiful chapter.
The book lost a little steam for me in Chapters 5 and 6 though it picked up a bit after that. Weisman is now a mother and the final chapter "Begetting", is mainly about her struggles to become pregnant and her fears of complications due to her condition.
All in all, a courageous struggle, an interesting look at the practice of medecine and an honest look inside one person, and her family's, life.
...
Rating: 4
Summary: Encouraging memoirs for those going through a tough time
Comment: "As I Live and Breathe" are the memoirs and musings of Weisman, a resident at Emory University Hospital. What makes her experiences unique and of interest to others? First, she is a resident doctor with a rare congenital disorder. After suffering for years of painful infections and operations she learned to control her problem with monthly infusions and interferon injections. Here is a doctor who has been living the patient experience all her life, from her early childhood, through school and medical school and even now as a doctor.
The book discusses her dealings with her condition as well as how it affected her life choices and outlook including her decision to take control of her own destiny by becoming a doctor. A book of courage and determination in the face of obstacles, it is a light read through her life that can be inspiring to all. One thing that makes this book different from similar books of courageous people is that almost all other books have an ending. The person succeeds, the person conquers the problem and moves on, etc. In this case her condition will not be cured, it is a lesson in real life that sometimes there is no end to a problem, only courage to make it the best it can be and go on about life - a good lesson for all of us to learn.
Rating: 3
Summary: an enlightening account
Comment: After witnessing the painful treatment and deaths of my in-laws recently, I was most interested in the author's account of her unbearable pain when her face was infected, and the problem she had in obtaining relief. She was a doctor herself and the staff knew her--yet she still had to beg for hours for relief. When will the medical profession treat pain adequately? I am disappointed that after enduring so much pain that she does not recognize this need. Overall, her courage is admirable, and we need more doctors who have endured chronic illness to write accounts that enlighten the general public.
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Title: My Own Medicine: A Doctor's Life as a Patient by Geoffrey, M.D. Kurland ISBN: 0805071717 Publisher: Times Books Pub. Date: 11 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: One Hundred Days: My Unexpected Journey from Doctor to Patient by David Biro ISBN: 0375706739 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue by Danielle Ofri ISBN: 0807072524 Publisher: Beacon Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: My Own Country: A Doctor's Story by A. Verghese, Abraham Vergehese ISBN: 0679752927 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande ISBN: 0312421702 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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