2 comments about RYAN A Mother's Story of her Hyperactive/Tourette Syndrome Child.

1. I would like a 3-4 page review of this book, please. It would mean so much to me.

   Thank you,

   Karie




2. Susan Hughes generously allows us into her familys private struggle with TS and ADHD. She shows how life really is as a parent struggling to control this disorder. She offers us a look into what the future might hold for any parent that has a child with Tourettes. This book gives parents and educators a much better understanding of these disorders. If there is someone in your life dealing with Tourettes then you must get them this book

5 comments about This Ain't E.R.: A Heart Surgeon's Struggle to Keep the Faith.

1. I found myself laughing at what amounts to a surgical resident with a godzilla ego. I can't believe that someone who is entrusted with protecting and saving lives can make such fun of the very people he is charged with helping. If I were one of these patients and read this scrambled mess, I would hire an attorney for slander and malpractice. I only hope that he never passed his boards and if he did, practices in a state far from mine....you're the type of ass that gives doctors a bad name.



2. I thought the writting was accurate, but, could have used some better editing. As a close to finishing Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellow myself, I enjoyed the premise, theme, and characterizations. But, as others have stated, UAB is not among the best General Surgery Residencies, and Emory is not among the best or busiest Cardiothoracic Surgery Residencies. Perhaps each is among the most "malignant."
   This is not a good book for those considering a career in medicine...This IS a good book for those considering a career in surgery. CT surgeons are a very minute population, and it wouldn't be wise to take Murrah's experiences as generalities when a far greater majority of medical society has a different mindset, and different training philosophy.



3. If you work went to school or work at Bayview General (as I do) then it is a definite buy and read. His description of the characters is amusing. After you read it you will certainly have a new perception of arrogance at its highest level. There are a lot of people in a lot of specialties who work hard and try to put the patient first. Tell us once and get on with the story. If you are not familiar with Bayview I don't think you would enjoy it nearly as much, and remember, this is one person's (very biased) view.



4. This book has multiple problems. First and foremost, the writing is poor. Second, Murrah beats the reader over the head with his premise that this story is more "true" and "real" than other books on the same topic, because he supposedly wrote it as he went along in training. Unfortunately, those episodes are presented in brief passages he drew from his notes. The majority of the book is retrospective commentary on what he was thinking at the time- something for which he criticizes other authors. Further, his arrogance grows tiresome early- just because you're a liberal doesn't make you better than everyone else, Murrah. Also, UAB is not a good surgery program, Emory is not the best CV program around, and your wife is not "hot" as you mention several times. I get the feeling throughout that Murrah has to keep telling himself these things to justify his choices in life. In the end, Murrah is just another one of the 140 + residents who complete cardiothoracic training in this country each year. There is nothing of value in the pages he has put forth here.



5. If this were to be a truly honest account - as it claims to be - then it should have commented on the atrociously poor reputation that "Bayview's" surgery residency has across the nation. As a former surgery resident, I can comment with confidence on this point. To say that "Bayview" has one of the best surgery programs in the country is absolute fantasy! Teaching is poor and resident morale is abysmal. Murrah's success is probably mostly due to his personal strengths in spite of "Bayview" rather than because of it. True, "Bayview" surgery has a rich heritage, but its luster has faded in recent years. Other than these falsehoods, I found the book largely enjoyable.

2 comments about Kevin and Me: Tourette Syndrome and the Magic Power of Music Therapy.

1. The topic of Music Therapy is not new to me as I am a Registered Music Therapist myself. The book Kevin and ME is a very sensitive and compassionate story about how the natural gift of music can offer so much hope and relief, and change a young man afflicted with Tourette Syndrome and other horrific disorders, into a special, loving one, with a future to look forward too! I have Tourette Syndrome and know how the tics associated with this disorder can be so painful and completely devastate the lives of so many children and adults. Kevin and ME shows just how much Music Therapy can do for so many that are afflicted with various disorders.
   This book should become a part of the reading curriculum in the public school system! BRAVO! TO KEVIN!
   Thank you to Patricia Heenan for sharing this book with the world and for being "A VERY SPECIAL MOTHER!"
   
   Author: Raymond Vacchino M.Mus.(MT) A.Mus. L.R.S.M. Licentiate (hon.)



2. "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast..." this oft-quoted line is startlingly a propos in Kevin Heenan's case.
   
   Kevin developed normally for the first nearly 3 years of his life. He suffered from earaches as a toddler and his language was severely delayed. His social difficulties were first noticed in his aggression with peers as a pre-schooler. His younger sister Megan was the only child with whom he had a mostly good relationship.
   
   Kevin was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome when he was six. Facial twitching; grimaces; involuntary swearing and bizarre comments and generally poor language skills were behaviors that were present. Kevin's parents divorced when he was a young child. He became more violent, erratic and out of control. At 10, he was hospitalized for three years. Still in need of a secure facility, Kevin spent several more years in state facilities. His father resumes custody of Kevin when the boy was 15.
   
   By that point, Kevin, medicated since the age of six to control violent behavior and Tourette-related outbursts had started running away. The boy's mother then resumed custody, but Kevin's problems continued. He was enrolled in special programs in high schools in his district; he rebelled as he chafed at the stigma of these educational placements. After years of fearing Kevin's violence and history of running away, the boy's mother has him placed in group homes.
   
   Once in the group homes, Kevin literally steps up his running away. An inveterate soda addict, he goes on soda binges, even taking soda from other residents. Since the sugar jolt has adverse effects on his behavior, he is gradually weaned off of soda. That was the first of many giant steps he takes.
   
   Luckily for Kevin, music therapy was included in the group home program. He responded immediately and everyone was soon singing the praises of the music therapists and music therapy in general. Kevin also became involved in his community, taking on several part-time jobs and even received an award for volunteering at an animal shelter.
   
   From the telling, Kevin will continue to need care and supervision. Hope abounds as he makes progress in socializing with the other residents and by making music his forte. This book makes me think of Stevie Wonder's words "...music is a language we all understand..."
   
   Kevin was in facilities that were part of MHMR (Mental Health, Mental Retardation) which is a Texas agency. Many readers will undoubtedly pick up on that.
   
   I noticed that the word "eradicate," which means "obliterate" was used instead of "erratic," in "Kevin's eradicate [sic] behavior." The word "perseverate" is a damning and extremely harmful word. It has hurt many and is best avoided. The heavy-handed usage of that word cost this book one star. The terms "special interests," (if interests apply), "repetitive verbalizations/behaviors," or just plain "repetition" are much more accurate and demonstrate tolerance whereas that other word does not.
   
   
   Still, this is a good book about life with a person who has an especially severe case of Tourette's in addition to other challenges.

1 comments about Nothing to Fear: The Key to Cancer Survival.

1. Hello. I recently sent this book to a friend who was preparing to go into surgery to remove cancer from his colon. Needless to say he was very apprehensive about the procedure and actually felt like his time on this earth had come to its natural end.
   
   Last night, I got the great news that the surgery went well and my friend is resting comfortably. His brother told me this book helped tremendously and gave my friend the hope and inspiration he needed as he prepared for this dreadful cancer removal procedure.
   
   There's nothing like direct, positive feedback. God bless my friend and here's too many more years of good living!

3 comments about The White House Physician: A History from Washington to George W. Bush.

1. Terrific! This is a thoroughly researched body of work. It contains great insights into the development of American medicine, and I highly recommend it to those interested in American and presidential history. Furthermore, its examination of legal, political, and moral issues make it a must-read for those in the medical profession.



2. 
   
   Ludwig Deppisch is a medical doctor who has an interest in medical history, and out of that interest he has given us a book that sets out the fascinating story of the doctors who, from the time of the founding of the republic up through the modern era, have served as physicians to the Presidents. This story is doubly fascinating because it not only traces the historical progress of medicine through time but it also reveals how medical practices, sometimes in conjunction with political subterfuge, can impact the presidency itself.
   
   The first part of the book, which covers the practices of the best doctors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - the doctors who treated Presidents - exposes the shortcomings of the medical profession in those years, even as medicine itself was becoming more professional. Thomas Jefferson wrote about his friend doctor Benjamin Rush, a greatly influential figure, that the doctor had "done much harm" with the practice of bleeding patients to treat illness. Indeed, calling on the aid of a doctor did not guarantee a cure; just the opposite could be the case. President James Garfield, who lived in a somewhat more advanced medical period, when shot by an assassin had his wound examined by doctors with hands so dirty that, according to the author, the doctors themselves likely caused his fatal infection. Still, a physically tough old President like Andrew Jackson could have a bullet removed from a dueling wound years after the duel and emerge much improved from the surgery.
   
   But it is as the story moves toward the twentieth century, while medical knowledge seems to be progressing, that we see another compelling issue begin to emerge, and that is how political and medical subterfuge can be employed to deceive the citizenry about what is going on in the health of a President. Grover Cleveland had a secret operation, for example, on board a private yacht, to remove a cancerous growth in his mouth. In the event the operation was a success and the public never became aware of what had taken place. Woodrow Wilson, however, had a stroke of such massive proportions that he probably should have left office but he did not. His physician was complicit in keeping Wilson isolated and the public misinformed about his true condition. FDR's health was so badly failing at the end of his third term that he should never have run for a fourth. But we were in the midst of war. His actual medical state was concealed and the reelected President died a short time into his last term. President Eisenhower had a series of serious medical problems which were interpreted to the public through rose tinted glasses. Never the less, Ike was popular, he completed two terms, and what Americans were told about the President's health likely gave them the reassurance most of them were looking for. Finally, it should be noted that JFK deliberately misrepresented his awful health facts to the American people throughout his political career with the audacity of Harry Houdini making an impossible escape. We might admire the audacity, but was it the right thing to do?
   
   The author also raises some related and interesting issues about using psychiatry as a tool both for evaluating the mental fitness of a President and as a mode of treatment. Hindsight suggests it might have been useful to know more about the mental health and psychological makeup of Richard Nixon before he was elected. But would it have been possible, we wonder, to get an objective and non political pre-election evaluation of Nixon's personality? By the same token, Senator Thomas Eagleton was forced off the Democratic ticket as a Vice Presidential candidate in 1972 when it was revealed he had been treated for serious depression. Was this action appropriate? And how would the American people react if they learned that a President was undergoing current psychiatric treatment? These are worthwhile questions to ponder.
   
   All of this leads us to note that there is some useful discussion in this book about the place of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment when it comes to dealing with the ramifications of any severe medical impairment of a President. And while this constitutional amendment was specifically passed to provide guidelines should a crisis occur, we have unfortunately seen, as in the shooting of President Reagan, that when a crisis does occur key officials can still be caught flatfooted in the immediate aftermath as to what to say and do. Moreover, the question of whether a President is medically fit to continue in office places the White House Physician squarely in the cross hairs of decision making. Thus, relevant officials in any new administration need to discuss and understand all of the protocols to be followed and all of the attendant constitutional and medical implications well in advance of any medical emergency. Deception of the public will probably no longer be tolerated as it has been in the past.
   
   Lastly we should note that, like a good novel, this tale contains some rich characters, strong personalities like Dr. Cary Grayson, Wilson's physician, who can color the story and influence the plot. And we see the potential for conflict when there are many doctors involved in treatment, a few of whom may have large egos. Kennedy had a wide range of treating doctors and his titular head physician, Dr. Travell, was shunted aside while the President received secret and controversial treatments from Max Jacobson, the Manhattan doctor known as "Doctor Feelgood" because of the injections he gave the rich and famous, injections that contained amphetamines and steroids.
   
   All in all, it would be fair to sum up that the author has given us a book that is not only rich in scholarship, but one that tells a tale which is fascinating on its own merits. Moreover, this is a book that is a significant resource of information for any doctors or officials who are newly being called to serve in an administration and who might have to grapple with a replay of history sometime in the future. For them it might be essential reading; for the rest of us it is just a darn good read.
   
   G. F. Shirley



3. This is a well crafted, researched and comprehensive treatise, yet it is an entertaining and fluid "read". I did not expect that the topic could be presented in such an interesting and entertaining manner. The book succeeded in educating me not only in the specifics of the various actors, but in the evolution of the roles and responsibilities of the President's physicians. I had assumed that the provision of medical care to the President had been static over the decades; it was fascinating to learn just how much and how recently it has changed. This book not only deals with presidential physicians, the evolution of presidential medical care (including political overlap), but also provides fascinating insights into presidential history.

5 comments about Finding Magic Mountain: Life with Five Glorious Kids and a Rogue Gene Called FOP.

1. Carol Zapata-Whelan has a compelling story to tell, but the author jumps back and forth between time and place in a very confusing manner, talking about the struggles to get her son into college, back to the past, when she was dealing with one chronically ill child and just beginning to suspect that her second child was also stricken with the same genetic disorder, a debilitating disease for which there is no cure.
   
   While the book meanders way too much in some places, perhaps that is the true nature of being the parent of five beautiful children who are struggling to live with an unpredictable and chronic disease. There is no clear path from A to Z, as there would be in an autobiography written by an adult dealing with their own chronic or terminal illness. The real beauty in this story is how a family finds a way to go on living in the face of undaunting odds and challenges.
   
   
   "FOP - Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva -is a rare genetic disorder in which bone forms in muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues. Bridges of extra bone form across the joints in characteristic patterns, progressively restricting movement. FOP is a disease in which the body produces not just too much bone, but an extra skeleton that immobilizes the joints of the body." - Official description of FOP from The International FOP Association.



2. I want to say first off I very much admire people like Carol Zapata-Whelan, who took on her son's rare genetic disease head-on, and in the process certainly helped many others with the same disease and similar ones. I know a child with the most severe form of OI (Brittle Bone Disease) and I admire anyone working for cures to genetic bone disorders.
   
   However, I wish the book had not strayed quite so much from Vincent's story. Perhaps the author could write other books, ones about her family's mix of Irish and Argentine culture, or about college admission processes, or about many topics, but they all should not have been included in this one! The part of the story about Vincent's college decisions shows how hard it is to find a college for a child with a disability, but there is just too much about each college he's considering, and about how he didn't get into Stanford!
   
   Also, I wish Vincent's journey was told about more in order of how it happened. Flashbacks and back and forth time periods work better in a novel than in a medical memoir! I would also have loved to read more medical information on FOP---more of a history of its discovery and more about how it affects the body.
   
   These are all quibbles, and they don't really take away from what is here, and I would certainly encourage anyone with an interest in this topic to read this book!



3. Carol is a wonderful writer who tells an inspiring tale about her family's incredible journey through a relatively unknown disease. Her words are encouraging. If you've ever dealt with a chronically ill child or need help in triumphing over adversity, you'll love this book!



4. This book is a chant to life. The basic values of humanity,love, honesty, compassion and courage are to be found in Carol Zapata-Whelan's story. Knowing from the outset that she is fighting an unknown adversary who changes faces and steps like a demon, blinding his oponent, Carol shows grit from the opening of Magic Mountain up to the end of this dramatic narrative.



5. Amazing read. Couldn't put it down and yet I wanted it to last. Bought 3 more copies and gave as gifts because the lesson was so important.

1 comments about Inventing Personality: Gordon Allport and the Science of Selfhood.

1. I do not have time now to write comprehensively about all the wonderful treasures I found in this book. There is the history of the industial mid-west around the turn of the last century, the intellectual climate of Harvard and Europe, especially Germany during the 1920s, also an account of an encounter between young Allport and Freud. What is revealed is the factors leading to the intellectual formation of Gordon Allport, a pre-eminent American psychologist. Unlike most others in his field, he was motivated by a deep and intense spiritual commitment. It is a great read, and should be of interest to many thoughtful people in general as well as to those psychologists, such as myself, who have been influenced by Allport's ideas.

5 comments about The Nurse's Story.

1. I read this book 18 years ago and it made an impression on me. Over the years I've thought about the book over and over again--the different stories, the people, the morals, etc. I think about the socialite with breast cancer and the dilemma of administering a fatal dose of morphine to a patient in pain. This is a book that definitely stays with you.



2. I found this book at a goodwill store, at first expecting not to find anything at all. I bought it for a dollar then started reading it just to check it out, but then found myself deeply attached to it. My mother is a nurse and the only reason this book got my attention on the shelf was because I wanted a narrative true story of what her life *must be like* at work. All in all, this is a very well-written book.
   **Someone above made a comment about her home life story not being "worth a reader's time," but hey, it's reality and I didn't expect her to start telling stories of her glass slipper or eating a poisoned apple. Anyone with compassion would understand what she's been through (especially waiting anxiously for her husband to return before she realizes she's been abandoned again and again) and and the only reason it doesn't sound "exciting" (to some readers) is because she obviously skipped more painful and complicated details. Any reader should be able to understand that. And isn't this a story about *nurses* after all?
   Anyway, the book is amazing. It opened my eyes a little to what nurses really go through and what they have to do to keep their sanity. It made me understand my mother's work more. It is one of the toughest jobs out there and the author definitely gives us a great & down-to-earth tour of her journey. Go ahead and read it. You'll laugh and cry.



3. The people that this nurse treated were very interesting but some of the stories of her home life are less than exciting and not worth a reader's time.



4. "The Nurse's Story" is a book about patients. Carol Gino tells about her years of nursing without writing a book about herself. Instead, she focuses on her patients, on their courage, pain, and the lessons they pass on to all of us. In "The Nurses Story" we see nursing rise above science. Ms. Gino makes this a book about caretaking, a book we can all use to aid in our own healing.



5. This novel tells the tale of a nurse and her life in a way that has had me laughing and crying throughout the story. The characters became so real to me I could hardly put the book down. I really felt for them. The way I view the field of medicine since reading this book has drastically changed.

2 comments about Robert Wood Johnson -- The Gentleman Rebel.

1. The impact of the Johnson family -- and particularly the "gentleman rebel" at the center of Larry Foster's book -- on the community, the health care industry and society at large has been documented in a way that is illuminating, satisfying and inspiring. Attention to detail, the providing of context and respect for the subject, along with graceful writing, make this book a joy to read.



2. The usual authorized biography is worthy but not worthwhile; the author has traded access for freedom to write what he damned well pleases. In this case, Foster, though not writing an "approved" or subsidized book, has given up nothing -- he knew and genuinely liked his subject, despite having worked for him. Robert Wood Johnson, NOT the Johnson who just bought himself a professional foootball team, was both a gentleman and a rebel but he did establish for one of the premier American companies a credo which helped to build it and, even after his death, to keep it on the right course during the Tylenol crisis, a triumph of responsible capitalism -- and not incidentally of well-handled public relations . The author minimizes his own role in handling this potentially widespread and dangerous situation. The book is rare in its genre -- well written, humane, interesting, and valuable to anyone interested in top drawer American companies, the economy, public health, public service, the lives of the rich, and more.

No comments about Marcia Adams: Heart to Heart.