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99 reviews for:
Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table
Stephen Westaby
4.19 AVERAGE
99 reviews for:
Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table
Stephen Westaby
4.19 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
First off I just want to say I didn't know any one could write about complicated surgeries in such an accesible and engaging way, eventhough I had to go over the surgery parts more than once sometimes to kind of follow what was going on it still was pretty interesting and worth it. I did feel like too much sometime because there were so many details and I had to take breaks but I was able to pick up where I left off when I picked it up again so it all was good!
Stephen Westaby is one of the top cardiac surgeons from the UK and he wrote this book near the end of his 35 year long career in cardiac surgery. He did a lot of complicated sometimes somewhat newer surgeries during his career and he decided that it would be a pity not to document atleast some of them. This book is about the stories of his patients some happy, some sad and some truly fascinating. There was a story of a woman with locked-in syndrome, who basically was locked out of the world because she could only see and hear things around her but not respond to anythkng due to severe paralysis. Another story of a man in his sixties who became pulse-less when an artificial heart outside his body was connected to him. Because surgeons are often seen as these detached beings another thing that I really loved about the book was that you could feel his empathy towards his patients.
Recommended to medical students or anyone who likes to read medical memoirs or is generally interested in medical related books!
Stephen Westaby is one of the top cardiac surgeons from the UK and he wrote this book near the end of his 35 year long career in cardiac surgery. He did a lot of complicated sometimes somewhat newer surgeries during his career and he decided that it would be a pity not to document atleast some of them. This book is about the stories of his patients some happy, some sad and some truly fascinating. There was a story of a woman with locked-in syndrome, who basically was locked out of the world because she could only see and hear things around her but not respond to anythkng due to severe paralysis. Another story of a man in his sixties who became pulse-less when an artificial heart outside his body was connected to him. Because surgeons are often seen as these detached beings another thing that I really loved about the book was that you could feel his empathy towards his patients.
Recommended to medical students or anyone who likes to read medical memoirs or is generally interested in medical related books!
Too much medical jargon, i guess i was expecting sth else from this book.
I still enjoyed it.
I still enjoyed it.
It read like a thriller, a medical one, so a funny combo. I would highly recommend pairing it with watching The Good Doctor at the same time as it fits perfectly. The book itself was surprisingly well written, with a great sense of dark humour, and yet very informative. The downside is that for a layman like me, some passages may seem quite confusing, but I guess it was unavoidable in a book of this type.
This book was part memoir, part short commentary on NHS health rationing, but mostly was a series of interesting case studies. The book as a whole didn't seem to have any stand-out linking theme to tie it all together, but each case individually was very interesting and it was overall a very enjoyable read.
An incredibly thought-provoking read written with admiringly brutal honesty by a pioneer in his field. I read this book in 3 days flat simply because I could not put it down.
For those who enjoy med reads this is definitely not one to be missed!
For those who enjoy med reads this is definitely not one to be missed!
3 stars || speed 1.5 || length 10 hrs 26 mins
Among all the doctor/medical books that I've read, this is definitely the most not amateur-friendly one. You can't get the picture of most cases presented in this book if you haven't learned medicine at some point of your life.
I think this book might be beneficial for med student yet it's a bit too sexist.
Among all the doctor/medical books that I've read, this is definitely the most not amateur-friendly one. You can't get the picture of most cases presented in this book if you haven't learned medicine at some point of your life.
I think this book might be beneficial for med student yet it's a bit too sexist.
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Great stories from an extraordinary career as a heart surgeon. But, some failures in his career that he just mentions would be nice if he explored them. He only talks about his success.
emotional
informative
medium-paced