No comments about Vets Might Fly and Other Stories.

2 comments about My Healing From Breast Cancer.

1. This book literally got me through the three weeks between my diagnosis and surgery. Dr. Joseph is a caring, intelligent woman whose personal experience and ability to articulate it are extraordinary. She covers standard and alternative therapies in a non-threatening and easy to understand way. The story of her spritual journey was remarkable.



2. This books is more than about breast cancer. It deals with working with doctors, emotional wellbeing and nutrition. It is how every woman should treat herself all the time, not just when faced with a life threateing disease. Very informative and easy to understand

5 comments about It Takes More Than Guts.

1. Being I am not a reader normally. It was very easy to understand. It normally takes me weeks to read a book in this lenght, it took me 3 days. To anyone that is going though the j-pouch surgery, I recommend reading this book!!



2. When I read this book I felt as though I were reading my own account of my illness, surgery and recovery. Mr. VanHooser tells from start to finish every step of this debilitating illness. This book is a must read for anyone that suffers from or has a loved one that suffers from IBS. The straightforward manner in which he shares his experience will hit home with anyone who is affected by this disease. It was so much more than the usual informational book, it gave all the information you need but also gifted you with an emotional and physical victory that gives you hope.



3. As I read Phillip Van Hooser's book, "It Takes More Than Guts," I felt as though Phillip had written about my struggle with Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD). His description of the disease is so accurate. I have suffered with ulcerative colitis, a form of IBD, for nine years. For the past two years, I have contemplated having my colon removed like Phillip did, but I have repeatedly talked myself out of it because I'm afraid of such an invasive surgery and all of the unknowns. Some of the areas that I especially liked about his book are that it takes you step-by-step from: being diagnosed with IBD, Phillip's experiences with IBD, Phillip's ultimate decision to have surgery, and finally the quality of Phillip's life after surgery. This book takes you through these steps in great detail. This book helped me make important decisions in my life concerning my battle against IBD, and I would highly recommend it to anybody suffering with this disease, or anybody who knows someone who has IBD-this book will allow you to better understand what your loved one is going through.



4. Van Hooser does a wonderful job of detailing the day-to-day fears, realities, and inconveniences of living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I especially appreciated how he chronicles what he is thinking as the doctors speak. The reader almost feels like a fly on the wall. Anyone that has lived with IBD can relate to all he goes through to "mask" his illness, and the embarrassment it causes.

   This inspirational story of how one person copes with his disease is encouraging and uplifting. The honesty with which he presents his fears and worries is to be commended. The way in which he draws encouragement from his friends and family, but yet deals with his disease so individually, is unique. At times, I felt like I was reading about my own struggle with IBD, and it was encouraging to know that others feel the same way I have.

   I read this book through in less than a day. I have given it to friends to help explain what life with IBD is like. Van Hooser says it like it is, "crap" and all!




5. This book was written from such a personal perspective. It took a lot of courage to be so open about how much Phil suffered during his illness. But the fact that he was so candid will be very helpful to anyone suffering with the same ilness or for that matter any chronic illness. Phil offered so much practical information as well as insight into how a patient can manage their own health care. I was especially touched by the relationships Phil established with his health care providers. What amazes me is how Phil took his experience and shared it with the world. He has reached out to other sufferers and tossed them a life line of support and a wealth of resources. I recommend this book to everyone who has ever experienced medical problems no matter what type.

5 comments about Geography of the Heart.

1. AIDS memoirs became a rather popular genre in the 1990s. Geography of the Heart fits well into this genre, yet transcends the majority of these books, largely because of Fenton Johnson's deep, faith based observations and beautiful prose. The book is, of course, sad, yet the prose moves us to an understanding of the meaning of love and the factors which discourage us from entering into this most vulnerable state. It also talks about the deep transformation that occurs when we let down our guard and allows us to love, in spite of risks involved in all relationships. This is challenging as well as encouraging. I found Geography of the Heart to be well worth reading.



2. Two very dissimilar men meet in San Francisco, fall in love, and one cares for the other as he dies of AIDS in Paris in 1990. That's it, on the surface. But Fenton Johnson's exquisite memoir goes much deeper to explore the depths of a relationship that didn't stand much chance when it began. Rose, HIV+ but aware of his status, was asymptomatic when he met Fenton. Rose was the only child of Holocaust survivors whose father escaped the Nazis and hid for three years with broken vertebrae. Fenton, OTOH, grew up the youngest of nine in a Catholic family in isolated Appalachia.
   Johnson writes with crystal clarity of his working through fear, toward grief and into eventual emotional renewal.
   Beautiful.



3. Rarely does a book come along which changes the way you see things. Johnson writes with such command and passion that you are immediatly drawn into his world. I started this book when I was in low spirits and the book quickly made me see the brighter sides of life. Although, its about the death of the loved one the way Johnson writes it doesnt make it fall into the catergory of a b-rate tear jerker. Its more about coming to terms with love, death and life. The reasons to live are the central plot rather then the reasons to die.

   I weeped at times but at times inwardily smiled because Johnsons perceptions and fears are so human, just like the rest of us!

   I suggest this book strongly for all those who want to get a little closer to reality.




4. If you want to know the true meaning of "Love", read this book! Mr. Johnson has written a highly moving and emotional account of his life's journey with his (now deceased) partner-Larry Rose. Two men who came together from two extremely different upbringings shared a life a love together that few of us ever have a chance to have, yet we all yearn for. Their individual families histories alone are worth reading! The writing is strong and effective, although I did have a few problems with it in spots. I cannot deny feeling nothing but joy at having the opportunity to read this excellent book! In an age where the AIDS crisis seems to be forgotten this is an all to important account of how all lives have changed and is a great testament and history lesson to remind us all. Highly recommended!



5. I read a review of this when it first came out and felt that I had to read it. The emotion is so true and heartfelt. I felt the sadness as Fenton and Larry realized they would eventually lose each other because of AIDS. The story of their relationship is a testimony to the strength found in relationships of all kinds. This book helped me appreciate love and my sexuality. It's a must read for all who love life and want to feel how true homosexual love can be.

5 comments about Rotations: The Twelve Months of Intern Life.

1. Rotations: The 12 Months of Intern Life
   
   The 'Prologue' says since "managed care" came, life for medical specialists and their patients has become increasingly complicated. Specialists can't schedule tests for patients without first calling the patient's primary care provider to explain why the tests are medically necessary. Then the specialist has to explain to those doing the tests just what the concern in. The primary care provider must authorize a second visit to discuss the results. All the time spent in making phone calls, discussing or arguing about the need for the tests, reduces the number of patients seen during a week or the time spent in evaluation. Does this system benefit the patient of the HMO's stockholders? It makes providing excellent care to patients more difficult.
   
   This change in American medical education is to focus on the training of family practitioners, generalists, internists, and pediatricians; subspecialty care is less of a priority. Along with this, in New York City there were mergers between medical schools and teaching hospitals to create monopolies in the delivery of care, and the ruin of many smaller facilities. The Federal government pressured a decrease on residency training programs and the number of doctors by as much as a third in one example. Each of the twelve chapters tell of events for interns during the July to June year.
   
   After a year, the interns are now residents. The 'Epilogue' sums up the effects of this stressful year. Dr. Marion gives his analysis of the Bell Commission and the effects of this law in practice. He has some recommendations for reform. Chapter 6 tells how and why "internship" was invented at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1890s to meet a financial crisis. Later it was called an "educational necessity. [There is no mention of how this is done in Scotland, England, or on the Continent. What are the comparative results?]



2. Having read Learning to Play God (excellent) and Intern Blues (very elightening), both by Dr. Marion, I was thrilled to find Rotations on the shelf of my local bookstore. His desire to convey how much and how little has changed since the mid 80s when Intern Blues took place is commendable. However, his effort was fair to middling at best (if you have read the previous two books). Women are more accepted (thank goodness) and family leave time for pregancy is no longer much of an issue. But, late nights, incompetent techs, and 9-5 nurses (and doctors!) still exist basically unchanged. The main problem that I had with this book was the paucity of NEW information. Refering to previous works (Intern by Doctor X is very educational) can add to a work, but I felt that Rotations relied to heavily upon them. Dr. Marion is an excellent and honest writer, but Rotations is not the first of his works that I would recommend to my friends.



3. This book documents the lives of young doctors in a pediatric internship. By following their lives I got a better understanding of what it's like to be in their shoes. This book has so many characters that it's hard to follow. Likewise, the many characters are given no background or discriptions so it's hard to have concern for them even though they are going threw so much frustration and hardship from their intership. This book reads like a documentary which is not such a bad thing, just different. This book would be interesting to someone that is interested in medical training.



4. What's wrong with the system of training M.D.s endure for three years? According to Robert Marion, everything. Patching together the diaries of '90s interns with excerpts from books and his own memories, Marion leads us month by month throuhg a year of medical internship. Much about how interns suffer, how hateful and intractable the medical system is, rife with sarcasm. Apparently interns have enough energy to write diaries of their experience with stupid nurses, vengeful lab techs and God-complex MD-CEOs but not enough to appreciate the wonder of human biology and the extreme privilege of being allowed to get paid to practice for three years on onwitting patients before going on to the highest paid, most prestigious job you can have in the USA by just being good at a science and jumping through the hoops--one of which is internship.



5. I like Marion's idea of using actual intern diaries to describe residency life -- is there a better way to hear it than "directly from the horse's mouth?" However, Marion chooses to use not only the three diaries from his most recent interns (the 1994 class), but also includes many diary enteries from his "Internal Blues" residents. His constant switching from current to past diaries made reading the novel confusing -- I often found myself paging back to the prologue to try and determine who was who. And to add to this already perplexing situation, Marion frequently chooses to add tidbits from his own intern experience.

   In addition to the fact that the large cast of characters made the novel confusing, the book was also lacking a "big picture." A collection of little stories pieced together, the author allows us brief glimpses at moments of the intern's lives, but there is definitely a lack of continuum and focus. Taking the juiciest, most interesting enteries from the intern diaries keeps the reader awake, but the lack of continuity often caused my mind to drift elsewhere. And by the time I was back to being focused on the story, I had to read the prologue again to figure out who the character was.

   One "benefit" of this book: Marion includes much of what was in his "Internal Blues" book in this novel. So if you are into making bargain buys, this is a "two-for-one" deal.

1 comments about TERRY.

1. Terry Fox was the Hero that Canada always needed. He was also the hero that we lost way too quickly. As I held this book in my hand and looked at his wonderful 1970's snapshoots and cringed at the page with his personal handwriting.

   Although I have a love/hate relationship with Douglas Coupland
   work he clearly understands Canada and it's need for heros and shows a private side of Terry Fox the man.

   Since Terry Fox has already won a place in the hearts of Canada maybe the world should know more about the story of the young man who used every cell in his body to fight the disease that was cuting his life way too shot.

   Douglas Coupland tells us the story of Canada's hero and it a story the world needs to know with detail that we about our modern anti-heros like Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

2 comments about Stories of the Heart: Reflections on the Heart Transplant Journey : Stories of Hope and Inspiration.

1. I am presently on the heart transplant journey myself and found this book to be of great value. It is like talking to a friend that knows what you are going through. The fact that the stories are written by the people themselves made me feel like I am not alone if they can do it then maybe I can too. I feel that this would be a good bed side book for anyone who is dealing with a heart transplant it was like getting a hug when needed. I find it hard to talk about what I'm going through with others and it was nice to know that I'm not alone on my journey.



2. I silently absorbed all of this work and just came away with such empathy it's very difficult to express it. It is a good manual to prepare you for such procedures. Too much to say about it, my words fail.

No comments about Epilepsy in Our Words: Personal Accounts of Living with Seizures (The Brainstorms Series).

1 comments about Anderson Ruffin Abbott (Canadian Medical Lives).

1. Anderson Ruffin Abbott is a name unfamiliar to many Canadians, but a man of great importance to the Afro-American community in Canada. Born in Toronto in 1837, he became the first Afro-American physician in Canada, and was one of only eight Afro-American surgeons in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. Despite constant racial prejudice, Anderson Abbott led an exemplary life, thus paving the way for future Afro-Americans in Canada. His story is one that deserves much more attention.

3 comments about A Desperate Passion: An Autobiography.

1. An unexciting, uninvolving autobiography. Where's the "passion"? The history is interesting to a point, but the nitty-gritty seems to be lacking. Given Caldicott's powerful speech making and her powerful writing in If You Love This Planet, this desiccated book is a big disappointment. People and events simply don't come alive here.



2. This autobiography by Helen Caldicott is stunning in the information it offers. Caldicott is one of the most important women of our century and her discussion with Ronald Reagan's daughter is worth the price of the book alone. Caldicott as a nationally renown antinuclear activist --full of knowledge and bravier in her cause, had the credentials and intelligence to fight the good fight and her memoir of her adventures in doing so opens the eyes wide and fills the mind with jarring reality. She is a life saver, a gift to our salvation on earth--a woman one wants to know and understand and empathize with. Blessings on this book. Buy it. It will light up your mind with her intelligence and caring spirit. All of her books are vital as can be. Buy them. Read them and share them. Daniela Gioseffi, Author of WOMEN ON WAR: International Voices for the Nuclear Age, American Book Award, 1990



3. I wavered between giving this three and four stars, but decided on three stars for folks who don't know anything about Caldicott. Those of us who are either already fans of her personally, or care deeply about anti-nuclear and environmental issues, would more likely give it at least four stars. Dr. Caldicott is an inspiration to anyone who either wants to make a difference in the world, or fears that no one person can. She started on her anti-nuclear campaign as an Australian pediatrician and concerned mother -- writing an angry letter to the editor about French nuclear tests in the South Pacific (which did not get published) -- and went on to found Physicians for Social Responsibility and to inspire millions. I've seen Dr. Caldicott speak twice, and she's a marvel. She has authored other books, _Missile Envy_ and _If You Love This Planet_ among them, about more specific issues; this is a very personal account, in which she is honest about her failures, disappointments, setbacks, loneliness, and fear of death. But it is ultimately a triumph of the will and spirit. I wish her many more years of health, happiness, and successful activism.