4.0
Open Heart
ByPublisher 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.
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.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesOpen Heart Reviews
4.0
“It is rare to find a book that combines humor, honesty, and humility all in one (especially a book about medicine).
I’ve been an ICU nurse for six years now and still struggle with the balance between life and death. This book made me feel seen and helped heal those parts that feel broken— the burnout, the attachment, the frustration, the numbness, and my empathy being both a blessing and a curse.
I hope one day I can shake this man’s hand and say thank you. But for now, I’ll just share this book with my CVICU colleagues in hopes that it helps them heal in the way the following words truly helped me:
“Some would suggest that empathy is the key to being a good doctor. The key to compassionate care, whatever that means. But if we really considered the enormity and sadness of every tragedy played out in this unit, we would all drown.”
“With age, my objectivity was fading. Empathy was taking over. I was suffering for my profession.”
“We are here for our patients, not for ourselves. We may suffer for that, but we will rarely regret it.””
“I enjoyed this book as someone who works on an open heart unit. His descriptive writing made me feel like i was in the OR with him. He seemed to care and advocate very well for his patients. His sense of humor comes through the book in such an adorable manner. Overall I enjoyed the read.”
CaptivatingEducationalEngagingFascinatingMotivationalMovingRewardingThought-provokingAccurateCredible sourcesData-drivenEvidence-basedIn-depth analysisPersonal experienceScientificThoroughUnbiasedEasy to followLogical progressionSlow-pacedThematically-structuredWell-organizedAccessibleClearConciseConversationalEasy to readEffective visualsEngagingFunnyRelatableChild lossDeath
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