Open Heart


Book Description

In gripping prose, one of the world's leading cardiac surgeons lays bare both the wonder and the horror of a life spent a heartbeat away from death When Stephen Westaby witnessed a patient die on the table during open-heart surgery for the first time, he was struck by the quiet, determined way the surgeons walked away. As he soon understood, this detachment is a crucial survival strategy in a profession where death is only a heartbeat away. In Open Heart, Westaby reflects on over 11,000 surgeries, showing us why the procedures have never become routine and will never be. With astonishing compassion, he recounts harrowing and sometimes hopeful stories from his operating room: we meet a pulseless man who lives with an electric heart pump, an expecting mother who refuses surgery unless the doctors let her pregnancy reach full term, and a baby who gets a heart transplant-only to die once it's in place. For readers of Atul Gawande's Being Mortal and of Henry Marsh's Do No Harm, Open Heart offers a soul-baring account of a life spent in constant confrontation with death.




King of Hearts


Book Description

Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life. This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered to be an impossible feat: He opened the heart, repaired fatal defects, and made the miraculous routine. Acclaimed author G. Wayne Miller draws on archival research and exclusive interviews with Lillehei and legendary pioneers such as Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard, taking readers into the lives of these doctors and their patients as they progress toward their landmark achievement. In the tradition of works by Richard Rhodes and Tracy Kidder, King of Hearts tells the story of an important and gripping piece of forgotten science history.




Your Heart, My Hands


Book Description

An encouraging, inspiring, and "absorbing" (Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer Prize winner) true story of how a boy from India overcame a difficult childhood and devastating hand injuries and became one of the most prolific cardiac surgeons in U.S. history. An encouraging and inspiring true story on how a boy from India overcame a difficult childhood and devastating hand injuries and became one of the most prolific cardiac surgeons in U.S. history. Leaving a life marked by crippling setbacks and his father's doubt, in 1967 a twenty-something doctor from India arrived in America with only five dollars and the desire to claim his American dream. The journey still awaiting Dr. Arun K. Singh would be unparalleled. Faced with an entirely new culture, racism, and the lasting effects of disabling childhood injuries, through hard work and perseverance he overcame all odds. Now having performed over 15,000 open heart surgeries, more than nearly every surgeon in history, Dr. Singh reflects on his most memorable patients and his incredible personal life. Shared for the first time, these intimate and uplifting accounts, along with photos, will have you cheering for the underdog and appreciating the enduring determination of the human spirit.




The Heart Surgeon's Proposal


Book Description

Pediatric anesthetist Maggie Walsh fell in love with surgery fellow Phil Park when they both joined the elite Children's Cardiac Unit. But the handsome playboy never seemed to look her way…until the night they fell into bed! Now the sexual tension is unbearable. And the last thing Maggie wants is to tell Phil of her pregnancy! He'll do the right thing for the baby's sake — but for all their sakes Maggie won't consent to a loveless marriage. No matter how passionately Phil tries to persuade her.




Christiaan Barnard:


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Robotic Cardiac Surgery


Book Description

Robotic Cardiac Surgery is a comprehensive guide to robotic/totally endoscopic cardiac surgery. The book is intended to provide in-depth information regarding the history of robotic surgical systems, their components and principles. It emphasizes patient selection, perioperative management, anesthesia considerations and management, operative techniques and management, postoperative care and results. Extensive, detailed photographs and illustrations of different kinds of robotic surgery are also included. It provides cardiac surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, and perfusionists with a comprehensive review of current robotic cardiac surgeries and related knowledge. Changqing Gao, MD, is a professor at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.




THE SHEIKH SURGEON'S PROPOSAL


Book Description

After her mother’s suicide, Jay takes the opportunity to leave America and visit Damhoor, the homeland of her late father, as a volunteer emergency doctor. It is there that she meets Malek, a skilled surgeon. Struggling together to save lives in the field, a strong attraction gradually forms between the two of them. However, their feelings for one another are by no means sweet or gentle. As Sheikh, Malek is obligated to inherit Damhoor’s throne. And so, knowing Malek’s anguish, Jay makes a certain decision… This is a grand scale medical romance!







We Plan, God Laughs


Book Description

The old Yiddish proverb, “We plan, God laughs,” expresses a truth everyone can relate to. At every stage of life we make plans, setting out where we want to go and imagining what we will be like when we have “arrived.” But things have a way of turning out not quite as we hoped or expected. In WE PLAN, GOD LAUGHS, Sherre Hirsch argues that too often our plans are limited to ones we think up at bedtime, or are devised by our parents, or by what looks good on a résumé. Addressing serious spiritual issues, Hirsch takes readers through ten basics steps for formulating a plan that reflects who we are now and who we want to be—a plan that is alive, organic, and in sync with God. Hirsch teaches the importance of letting go and recognizing that even the most ordinary life is extraordinary in the eyes of God. She makes no foolish promise that life will turn out as we plan, but shows that with hope, faith, and belief, we can change our lives for the better and make a positive difference in the lives of others.




National Health Insurance Proposals


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