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Hi all!
I picked up a book at Borders two days ago and I have been unable to put it down. I think some of you may be interested in getting it yourselves:
Ruhlman, Michael. (2003) "Walk on water: Inside an elite pediatric surgical unit. New York: Viking. ISBN: 0670032018.
The author has a web site which I haven't checked out: www.ruhlman.com
Ruhlman spent an extended period of time with the pediatric cardiac surgical team at Cleveland Clinic. They operate on all the congenital defects, most of which resulted in death twenty or thirty years ago. (Thus far there's been no mention of HCM or HOCM.) I am finding his descriptions of all aspects of the work to be enlightening. He notices everything from the big egos to the sense of awe, the high-tech to the touch of the assistant's hand on the ventricle to maintain blood flow during a crisis, the families' stress and distress to their enormous joy when their child recovers.
I'm developing a deeper understanding of why we talk so much here about seeing the experts and what it is that separates the high-level centers from those which are simply average. If any of you read the book, I'd like to hear what you think!
Pat
Warning: Sometimes it is frightening. I'm glad I'm not preparing to have surgery next week. I think it will take time to digest the information and I'll probably develop some new questions about cardiac surgery from reading the book.
I picked up a book at Borders two days ago and I have been unable to put it down. I think some of you may be interested in getting it yourselves:
Ruhlman, Michael. (2003) "Walk on water: Inside an elite pediatric surgical unit. New York: Viking. ISBN: 0670032018.
The author has a web site which I haven't checked out: www.ruhlman.com
Ruhlman spent an extended period of time with the pediatric cardiac surgical team at Cleveland Clinic. They operate on all the congenital defects, most of which resulted in death twenty or thirty years ago. (Thus far there's been no mention of HCM or HOCM.) I am finding his descriptions of all aspects of the work to be enlightening. He notices everything from the big egos to the sense of awe, the high-tech to the touch of the assistant's hand on the ventricle to maintain blood flow during a crisis, the families' stress and distress to their enormous joy when their child recovers.
I'm developing a deeper understanding of why we talk so much here about seeing the experts and what it is that separates the high-level centers from those which are simply average. If any of you read the book, I'd like to hear what you think!
Pat
Warning: Sometimes it is frightening. I'm glad I'm not preparing to have surgery next week. I think it will take time to digest the information and I'll probably develop some new questions about cardiac surgery from reading the book.
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