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袉褋褌芯褉褨褩 锌褉芯 卸懈褌褌褟, 褋屑械褉褌褜 褨 薪械泄褉芯褏褨褉褍褉谐褨褞
袩褉邪胁写邪 鈥� 褌芯 泄芯谐芯 褉械谢褨谐褨褟, 泻邪卸褍褌褜 锌褉芯 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕邪 泻芯谢械谐懈. 袙谢邪褋薪械, 褍 褑褨泄 泻薪懈卸褑褨 褋锌芯谐邪写褨胁 褨 褉芯蟹写褍屑褨胁 胁褨写芯屑芯谐芯 斜褉懈褌邪薪褋褜泻芯谐芯 薪械泄褉芯褏褨褉褍褉谐邪 胁懈 蟹薪邪泄写械褌械 斜邪谐邪褌芯 蟹邪褏芯锌谢褞褞褔懈褏 褨褋褌芯褉褨泄, 褍 褟泻懈褏 谐芯谢芯胁薪械 鈥� 褑械 械褌懈泻邪 褋褌芯褋褍薪泻褨胁 屑褨卸 谢褨泻邪褉械屑 褌邪 锌邪褑褨褦薪褌芯屑, 褌芯薪泻邪 屑械卸邪 屑褨卸 谐褨褉泻芯褞 锌褉邪胁写芯褞 褨 泻褉懈褏泻芯褞 薪邪写褨褦褞. 袘褍褌懈 胁懈褋芯泻芯泻谢邪褋薪懈屑 薪械泄褉芯褏褨褉褍褉谐芯屑 鈥� 褑褜芯谐芯 薪械 写芯褋懈褌褜, 褖芯斜 斜褍褌懈 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕械屑. 孝褉械斜邪 褖械 屑邪褌懈 薪邪泄泻褉邪褖褨 谢褞写褋褜泻褨 褟泻芯褋褌褨 鈥� 写芯斜褉芯褌褍, 胁懈屑芯谐谢懈胁褨褋褌褜 写芯 褋械斜械, 谢褞斜芯胁 写芯 谢褞写械泄 褨 薪械邪斜懈褟泻懈泄 褌邪谢邪薪褌 芯锌芯胁褨写邪褔邪.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 13, 2014
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48.8k people want to read
About the author
Henry Marsh
23听books743听followersHenry Marsh read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University before studying medicine at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1984 and was appointed Consultant Neurosurgeon at Atkinson Morley's/St George's Hospital in London in 1987, where he still works full time.
He has been the subject of two major documentary films, YOUR LIFE IN THEIR HANDS, which won the ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY GOLD MEDAL, and THE ENGLISH SURGEON, featuring his work in the Ukraine, which won an EMMY award. He was made a CBE in 2010. He is married to the anthropologist and writer Kate Fox.
His latest book is And Finally, coming after Admissions and Do No Harm.
He has been the subject of two major documentary films, YOUR LIFE IN THEIR HANDS, which won the ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY GOLD MEDAL, and THE ENGLISH SURGEON, featuring his work in the Ukraine, which won an EMMY award. He was made a CBE in 2010. He is married to the anthropologist and writer Kate Fox.
His latest book is And Finally, coming after Admissions and Do No Harm.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,307 reviews
January 18, 2015
I read this book because Mr Marsh operated on a friend of mine who had a brain tumour - she sadly died, but 5 years after her surgery. Some throwaway lines such as "I like to wash my female patients' hair" rang true - she had wonderful long hair and she found it very moving that her surgeon made her hair beautiful again after the mess that accompanies brain surgery.
As a fellow doctor , I both liked his honesty but also realised he must be impossible to work with. Other asides which are very revealing - " I think most of my colleagues dislike me" and the story of him throwing out fellow surgeons from "his" neurosurgery restroom reveals a lot of insight into how he is viewed at work. Other statements such as " I do not allow junior doctors or medical students in my clinic" - are just exasperating - how do they learn then? How did Henry Marsh himself learn?? ie from watching others.
However, although he is known to all at St Georges as quite a maverick, he also brilliantly explores the human side of having to make potentially earth-shattering decisions every day - in my job, I can usually phone the patient back, or see them again, if I am not 100% perfect on the day. In neurosurgery, a tiny lapse of concentration or just sheer bad luck, renders the patient potentially paralysed or dead, or worse - he does explain what is worse.....
Neurosurgeons are often accused ( by other doctors) of behaving as if they were God, and being immensely condescending to others - but here you get to see the other side of the coin - knowing you CAN operate but having to decide if you SHOULD, having to go and see a patient you have rendered paralysed, or at least, failed to cure, having to cope with the huge expectations, and huge anger and disappointment of relatives, and so on.
In highlighting so many cases where things have gone wrong, perhaps Henry Marsh does himself a disservice - after all, to many of his patients, including my friend, he is viewed as wonderfully kind, reassurring, capable - everything one would wish for if you have to undergo such a frightening procedure. As well as these cases where often he shows things not turning out well, he has performed hundreds of operations that have been huge successes.
And there is the interesting part of this book - you start out feeling irritated/bored with some of the medical descriptions, and exasperated by his "I am God" behaviour - but by the end you see him (and other surgeons like him) as normal human beings, bravely doing what most of us couldn't cope with, and somehow still retaining his humanity and care.
A very interesting book
As a fellow doctor , I both liked his honesty but also realised he must be impossible to work with. Other asides which are very revealing - " I think most of my colleagues dislike me" and the story of him throwing out fellow surgeons from "his" neurosurgery restroom reveals a lot of insight into how he is viewed at work. Other statements such as " I do not allow junior doctors or medical students in my clinic" - are just exasperating - how do they learn then? How did Henry Marsh himself learn?? ie from watching others.
However, although he is known to all at St Georges as quite a maverick, he also brilliantly explores the human side of having to make potentially earth-shattering decisions every day - in my job, I can usually phone the patient back, or see them again, if I am not 100% perfect on the day. In neurosurgery, a tiny lapse of concentration or just sheer bad luck, renders the patient potentially paralysed or dead, or worse - he does explain what is worse.....
Neurosurgeons are often accused ( by other doctors) of behaving as if they were God, and being immensely condescending to others - but here you get to see the other side of the coin - knowing you CAN operate but having to decide if you SHOULD, having to go and see a patient you have rendered paralysed, or at least, failed to cure, having to cope with the huge expectations, and huge anger and disappointment of relatives, and so on.
In highlighting so many cases where things have gone wrong, perhaps Henry Marsh does himself a disservice - after all, to many of his patients, including my friend, he is viewed as wonderfully kind, reassurring, capable - everything one would wish for if you have to undergo such a frightening procedure. As well as these cases where often he shows things not turning out well, he has performed hundreds of operations that have been huge successes.
And there is the interesting part of this book - you start out feeling irritated/bored with some of the medical descriptions, and exasperated by his "I am God" behaviour - but by the end you see him (and other surgeons like him) as normal human beings, bravely doing what most of us couldn't cope with, and somehow still retaining his humanity and care.
A very interesting book
July 7, 2023
This was a bit of a surprise after reading several of the late books on neurology , concentrating on the symptoms, psychology and behaviour of a person with a brain with a physical disorder. This book is on the nitty gritty scalpels in the brain, blood spurting out and deflating tumours from within. Not what I expected at all. But good, very good.
It's my bedtime book. What does that say about me? LOL
It's my bedtime book. What does that say about me? LOL
February 13, 2016
An intensely readable book about Henry Marsh's experiences as a neurosurgeon, working for St George's Hospital, under the British National Health Service. It also describes the charity work he does at a hospital in the Ukraine, working in incredibly difficult conditions.
He's funny......and pompous yet humble..... and a brilliant yet vulnerable man, who is not above throwing the occasional wobbly when one of the ghastly NHS computers behaves badly. His other great b锚te noir is a hatred of administration generally (of which there is an endless amount in hospitals), and in particular the myriad health and safety rules which intrude upon his life as a doctor. But he has a kinder view towards people - especially towards his patients.
Until reading this book I hadn't really taken on board the full implications of what can happen if brain surgery goes wrong. You can be left unable to speak, or paralysed down one side, or even in a completely vegetative state for the rest of your life. And if the stories in this book are anything to go by - the risks are quite high. Even if the risk is seemingly fairly low - say 5% - I personally would prefer not to be operated upon. If the outcome of the operation going wrong was death, that would be an okay alternative (for me), but given that the outcome can be life, but a grossly diminished life? For me then the cost would be too high. The brain is an incredibly difficult thing to operate on. There are risks. And when things go wrong they can go horribly wrong. Even for experienced surgeons, the challenges are often enormous.
On the other hand, experience shows that when faced with the prospect of death, we often cling on to life with desperation. Marsh has seen this time and time again, as people beg to be operated upon, and then later, to be operated on again, to squeeze just a few more months out of life. "(I) wondered, yet again, as I walked away down the dark hospital corridor, at the way we cling so tightly to life and how there would be so much less suffering if we did not. Life without hope is hopelessly difficult but at the end hope can so easily make fools of us all." I hope deeply that should I find myself in this position, I would be able to let go....
I will end on a happier note, albeit one peppered with expletives. It illustrates the frustration that hospital staff experience in the day-to-day care that they try and give their patients. It is a long extract, but it made me laugh.
I thought this book was a marvellous, un-put-downable read, and would recommend it to anyone.
------------------------------
A review from The Guardian
A BBC film about Marsh's work in the Ukraine.
He's funny......and pompous yet humble..... and a brilliant yet vulnerable man, who is not above throwing the occasional wobbly when one of the ghastly NHS computers behaves badly. His other great b锚te noir is a hatred of administration generally (of which there is an endless amount in hospitals), and in particular the myriad health and safety rules which intrude upon his life as a doctor. But he has a kinder view towards people - especially towards his patients.
Until reading this book I hadn't really taken on board the full implications of what can happen if brain surgery goes wrong. You can be left unable to speak, or paralysed down one side, or even in a completely vegetative state for the rest of your life. And if the stories in this book are anything to go by - the risks are quite high. Even if the risk is seemingly fairly low - say 5% - I personally would prefer not to be operated upon. If the outcome of the operation going wrong was death, that would be an okay alternative (for me), but given that the outcome can be life, but a grossly diminished life? For me then the cost would be too high. The brain is an incredibly difficult thing to operate on. There are risks. And when things go wrong they can go horribly wrong. Even for experienced surgeons, the challenges are often enormous.
On the other hand, experience shows that when faced with the prospect of death, we often cling on to life with desperation. Marsh has seen this time and time again, as people beg to be operated upon, and then later, to be operated on again, to squeeze just a few more months out of life. "(I) wondered, yet again, as I walked away down the dark hospital corridor, at the way we cling so tightly to life and how there would be so much less suffering if we did not. Life without hope is hopelessly difficult but at the end hope can so easily make fools of us all." I hope deeply that should I find myself in this position, I would be able to let go....
I will end on a happier note, albeit one peppered with expletives. It illustrates the frustration that hospital staff experience in the day-to-day care that they try and give their patients. It is a long extract, but it made me laugh.
I thought this book was a marvellous, un-put-downable read, and would recommend it to anyone.
------------------------------
A review from The Guardian
A BBC film about Marsh's work in the Ukraine.
February 6, 2017
4.5 stars.
The Goodread鈥檚 description of Do No Harm talks about the books鈥� 鈥渁stonishing compassion and candor鈥� and says it鈥檚 鈥渋t is a lesson in the need for hope when faced with life's most difficult decisions.鈥�
I鈥檓 thinking whoever wrote that only read half the book.
English neurosurgeon Henry Marsh does write beautifully about brain surgery. There certainly is great compassion and candor, and he鈥檚 fascinating on the topic of the human brain鈥攈ow it works and what can go wrong with it. There are engaging narratives here, and Marsh has a way of dropping a story and picking it up again that kept me eagerly waiting to find out what would happen to each of the patients he depicts
But, Do No Harm is not 鈥渁 lesson in the need for hope.鈥� Hope doesn鈥檛 even factor into it. Instead, this is part medical memoir and part impassioned rant against England鈥檚 National Health Service. Again and again, Marsh provides examples, sometimes hilarious, sometimes depressing, of the way technology and a dysfunctional corporate culture impedes his ability to help patients.
Toward the end of the book, we meet a man and his parents who come to Marsh鈥檚 office for a diagnosis of the man鈥檚 brain tumor. They are terrified and ready to hear the worst as they sit and wait for his verdict. But Marsh is unable to access the brain scans. There鈥檚 been a mix up in the hospital system's network, so he leaves the scared family in his office, and walks over to the imaging department, which is far away, but they鈥檙e not answering the phone.
And on it goes.
I listed to the audio version of this book read by British actor Jim Barclay who perfectly captures Marsh鈥檚 brilliance, passion and wit. I did subtract half a star because portions of Do No Harm read like a bad Yelp review and while no doubt Marsh is correct in his indictment of the NHS, I don鈥檛 need to be taken that deeply into the weeds. That said, this is a small detail in an otherwise wonderful book.
The Goodread鈥檚 description of Do No Harm talks about the books鈥� 鈥渁stonishing compassion and candor鈥� and says it鈥檚 鈥渋t is a lesson in the need for hope when faced with life's most difficult decisions.鈥�
I鈥檓 thinking whoever wrote that only read half the book.
English neurosurgeon Henry Marsh does write beautifully about brain surgery. There certainly is great compassion and candor, and he鈥檚 fascinating on the topic of the human brain鈥攈ow it works and what can go wrong with it. There are engaging narratives here, and Marsh has a way of dropping a story and picking it up again that kept me eagerly waiting to find out what would happen to each of the patients he depicts
But, Do No Harm is not 鈥渁 lesson in the need for hope.鈥� Hope doesn鈥檛 even factor into it. Instead, this is part medical memoir and part impassioned rant against England鈥檚 National Health Service. Again and again, Marsh provides examples, sometimes hilarious, sometimes depressing, of the way technology and a dysfunctional corporate culture impedes his ability to help patients.
Toward the end of the book, we meet a man and his parents who come to Marsh鈥檚 office for a diagnosis of the man鈥檚 brain tumor. They are terrified and ready to hear the worst as they sit and wait for his verdict. But Marsh is unable to access the brain scans. There鈥檚 been a mix up in the hospital system's network, so he leaves the scared family in his office, and walks over to the imaging department, which is far away, but they鈥檙e not answering the phone.
鈥淲here is Caroline?鈥� I asked as I arrived at the x-ray reception desk, a little out of breath.Fuckoff45 doesn鈥檛 work and neither does any other permeation Marsh tries. He runs back to the imaging department and convinces Caroline to accompany him back to the consultation room. FuckOff47 finally does the job. By then, the patients are almost vibrating with anxiety, his clinic is running 45 minutes late, and it鈥檚 not even 10:00 yet.
鈥淲ell, she鈥檚 about somewhere,鈥� came the reply.
So I headed off round the department and eventually I found her and explained the problem.
鈥淗ave you tried your password?鈥�
鈥淵es, I bloody well have!鈥�
鈥淲ell, try Mr. Johnsons. That usually works. Fuckoff45. He hates computers.鈥�
鈥淲hy 45?鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 the 45th month since we signed on to that hospital system and one has to change the password every month,鈥� Caroline replied.
So I ran down the corridor and down the stairs and past the waiting patients back to the consultation room.鈥�
And on it goes.
I listed to the audio version of this book read by British actor Jim Barclay who perfectly captures Marsh鈥檚 brilliance, passion and wit. I did subtract half a star because portions of Do No Harm read like a bad Yelp review and while no doubt Marsh is correct in his indictment of the NHS, I don鈥檛 need to be taken that deeply into the weeds. That said, this is a small detail in an otherwise wonderful book.
May 20, 2020
3.25 stars
In this book, Mr. Marsh tries to show the reader what it is like to be a neurosurgeon. Also serving as his memoir, this book shows the stress, the triumphs and failures of working in a hospital, specifically in neurosurgery. Personally, I thought it was very interesting and touching, but I had some problems just with the way it was written. If you are interested in medicine, give this a go.
I really enjoyed that he doesn't develop God-complex when he writes. Marsh is fully aware of his failures and some of my favorite parts of the novel were when he has to deal with failing and ultimately destroying someone's life. The guilt and the constant thinking over what could have been done better/differently was heartbreaking to read about but also enthralling. Throughout this book you get a better idea of what goes on behind the scenes in a hospital. As someone who was in the hospital recently and kept experiencing delays, I think I can now understand a bit more what was happening. I have often wondered how doctors live with the stress of holding other people's fates in their hands, once again this is an area in which Mr. Marsh excels. Chapters are devoted to examining the divide between patients and doctors and the walls that doctors put up. I never really realised the dehumanisation that patients go through when entering the hospital. All sorts of emotions sprang up when Marsh explained how doctors early on need to learn to view patients as something other than them; a different race. This way, they can get their job done and not suffer a mental breakdown. The strong points of this book definitely were the examinations of difficult topics.
What I didn't enjoy as much was the formula. Unlike many memoirs/autobiographies, isn't chronological. The names of the chapters aren't dates either, so you end up jumping around in the time line which is very disorientating. Sometimes I was trying to wrap my head around what was going on and at what state he was in his life to understand where he was coming from in that moment. Similarly, I liked the chapter titles (names of diseases for the most part) in the beginning. Later though, they stopped being disease names and sometimes, it would be disease name that isn't really covered. Again, this was kind of disorientating. At times the book was also quite formulaic, especially towards the beginning, but as we got into the last 1/3 this went away.
Overall, this was a very thought-provoking, interesting read.
鈥淟ife without hope is hopelessly difficult but at the end hope can so easily make fools of us all.鈥�
In this book, Mr. Marsh tries to show the reader what it is like to be a neurosurgeon. Also serving as his memoir, this book shows the stress, the triumphs and failures of working in a hospital, specifically in neurosurgery. Personally, I thought it was very interesting and touching, but I had some problems just with the way it was written. If you are interested in medicine, give this a go.
I really enjoyed that he doesn't develop God-complex when he writes. Marsh is fully aware of his failures and some of my favorite parts of the novel were when he has to deal with failing and ultimately destroying someone's life. The guilt and the constant thinking over what could have been done better/differently was heartbreaking to read about but also enthralling. Throughout this book you get a better idea of what goes on behind the scenes in a hospital. As someone who was in the hospital recently and kept experiencing delays, I think I can now understand a bit more what was happening. I have often wondered how doctors live with the stress of holding other people's fates in their hands, once again this is an area in which Mr. Marsh excels. Chapters are devoted to examining the divide between patients and doctors and the walls that doctors put up. I never really realised the dehumanisation that patients go through when entering the hospital. All sorts of emotions sprang up when Marsh explained how doctors early on need to learn to view patients as something other than them; a different race. This way, they can get their job done and not suffer a mental breakdown. The strong points of this book definitely were the examinations of difficult topics.
What I didn't enjoy as much was the formula. Unlike many memoirs/autobiographies, isn't chronological. The names of the chapters aren't dates either, so you end up jumping around in the time line which is very disorientating. Sometimes I was trying to wrap my head around what was going on and at what state he was in his life to understand where he was coming from in that moment. Similarly, I liked the chapter titles (names of diseases for the most part) in the beginning. Later though, they stopped being disease names and sometimes, it would be disease name that isn't really covered. Again, this was kind of disorientating. At times the book was also quite formulaic, especially towards the beginning, but as we got into the last 1/3 this went away.
Overall, this was a very thought-provoking, interesting read.
October 9, 2015
鈥淭errible job, neurosurgery. Don鈥檛 do it.鈥� Lucky for us, Henry Marsh reports back from the frontlines of brain surgery so we don鈥檛 have to. He鈥檚 nearing retirement age after a career divided between a London hospital and medical missions to Ukraine. The punchy chapters are named after conditions he has treated or observed. Rarely, he has been a patient himself (detached retinas, a broken leg), or observed a family member鈥檚 illness 鈥� his son鈥檚 brain tumor, his second wife鈥檚 epilepsy, and his mother鈥檚 terminal cancer.
Marsh comes across as having a hot temper, exhibiting extreme frustration with NHS bureaucracy. At the same time, he gets very emotional over his patients declining and dying, and experiences profound guilt over operations that go wrong or were ultimately unnecessary. He realizes the God-like power he holds over people鈥檚 quality of life: 鈥淲e [surgeons] sit there, alive and well and happy in our work, and with sardonic amusement and Olympian detachment we examine these abstract cases on which to operate.鈥�
It was particularly interesting for me to see the view from the other side of the operating table because two chapters have personal significance for me: 鈥淥ligodendroglioma鈥� was my late brother-in-law鈥檚 diagnosis, and the account of a near-disastrous clipping surgery in 鈥淎neurysm鈥� showed me why my mother has been so reluctant to have it performed.
In my favorite passages, Marsh reflects on the mind-blowing fact that the few pounds of tissue stored in our heads could be the site of our consciousness, our creativity, our personhood 鈥� everything we traditionally count as the soul:
This book might not be for you if you are squeamish about surgical details, but if you can get past that I submit to you that, like Atul Gawande鈥檚 Being Mortal, this is one that everyone should read.
Marsh comes across as having a hot temper, exhibiting extreme frustration with NHS bureaucracy. At the same time, he gets very emotional over his patients declining and dying, and experiences profound guilt over operations that go wrong or were ultimately unnecessary. He realizes the God-like power he holds over people鈥檚 quality of life: 鈥淲e [surgeons] sit there, alive and well and happy in our work, and with sardonic amusement and Olympian detachment we examine these abstract cases on which to operate.鈥�
It was particularly interesting for me to see the view from the other side of the operating table because two chapters have personal significance for me: 鈥淥ligodendroglioma鈥� was my late brother-in-law鈥檚 diagnosis, and the account of a near-disastrous clipping surgery in 鈥淎neurysm鈥� showed me why my mother has been so reluctant to have it performed.
In my favorite passages, Marsh reflects on the mind-blowing fact that the few pounds of tissue stored in our heads could be the site of our consciousness, our creativity, our personhood 鈥� everything we traditionally count as the soul:
I am looking directly into the center of the brain, a secret and mysterious area where all the most vital functions that keep us conscious and alive are to be found. Above me, like the great arches of a cathedral roof, are the deep veins of the brain 鈥� the Internal Cerebral Veins and beyond them the basal veins of Rosenthal and the in the midline the Great Vein of Galen, dark blue and glittering in the light of the microscope. This is anatomy that inspires awe in neurosurgeons.
Are the thoughts that I am thinking as I look at this solid lump of fatty protein covered in blood vessels really made out of the same stuff? And the answer always comes back 鈥� they are 鈥� and the thought itself is too crazy, too incomprehensible, and I get on with the operation.
This book might not be for you if you are squeamish about surgical details, but if you can get past that I submit to you that, like Atul Gawande鈥檚 Being Mortal, this is one that everyone should read.
January 26, 2015
If you鈥檙e really squeamish about blood and body parts and squishy bits, this isn鈥檛 the book for you. Marsh talks a lot about the practicality of operating on the brain, as well as about interacting with patients, decision making, dealing with outcomes, training new surgeons, etc. He鈥檚 very frank about all of it. If, like me, you鈥檙e planning to become a doctor, you might want to read it just to get a frank, unvarnished view of what it鈥檚 like to work in the NHS, what it鈥檚 like to have people鈥檚 lives in your hands, and how to (and sometimes how not to) interact with patients and coworkers. He has the humility to admit that he鈥檚 not perfect, without false modesty. He鈥檚 a brain surgeon, and he鈥檚 bloody good at it: if he weren鈥檛, a lot more people would be dead. But he does make mistakes, and he owns up to them 鈥� both the avoidable and the unavoidable ones.
Some parts of this book feel painfully real, too. I鈥檝e been the family member being told by a doctor that someone isn鈥檛 going to make it; seeing it from the doctor鈥檚 perspective is no easier. I really appreciated Marsh鈥檚 humanity about these things: he wasn鈥檛 afraid to admit that he didn鈥檛 want to meet bereaved family members, but he did meet them all the same, and confess to his mistakes where he鈥檇 made them.
On another level, of course, the book is fascinating just because it鈥檚 about the brain. Neurology or genetics are tentatively my interests right now, and while I鈥檓 not going within a football field鈥檚 length of neurosurgery, this still had a lot of fascinating insights.
As a volunteer for a charity for the blind, I heard about a patient my age who had brain surgery. She was fine before, aside from the tumour on her pituitary gland which was just starting to cause problems. She came out of it totally blind; in removing the tumour on her pituitary gland, the surgeon also irreparably damaged her optic chiasm (where the optic nerves cross). Mostly, I鈥檝e thought about this from her perspective 鈥� now I find myself wondering about that surgeon. Did he think it went perfectly, until after? The damage might not have been apparent until she woke up from anaesthesia. He did well, otherwise; got the whole tumour, as near as damn it. And yet the course of that young woman鈥檚 life is completely changed all the same. A lot of the things she wanted to do aren鈥檛 possible anymore. I bet it felt just a little bit like failure, even if he saved her life.
It makes me doubt being a doctor, a little. But it also makes me think about the importance of good doctors 鈥� not just technically good, but doctors who try to do good; who may make mistakes, but admit to them, and try to redress the damage. I want to be one of them, for sure.
Some parts of this book feel painfully real, too. I鈥檝e been the family member being told by a doctor that someone isn鈥檛 going to make it; seeing it from the doctor鈥檚 perspective is no easier. I really appreciated Marsh鈥檚 humanity about these things: he wasn鈥檛 afraid to admit that he didn鈥檛 want to meet bereaved family members, but he did meet them all the same, and confess to his mistakes where he鈥檇 made them.
On another level, of course, the book is fascinating just because it鈥檚 about the brain. Neurology or genetics are tentatively my interests right now, and while I鈥檓 not going within a football field鈥檚 length of neurosurgery, this still had a lot of fascinating insights.
As a volunteer for a charity for the blind, I heard about a patient my age who had brain surgery. She was fine before, aside from the tumour on her pituitary gland which was just starting to cause problems. She came out of it totally blind; in removing the tumour on her pituitary gland, the surgeon also irreparably damaged her optic chiasm (where the optic nerves cross). Mostly, I鈥檝e thought about this from her perspective 鈥� now I find myself wondering about that surgeon. Did he think it went perfectly, until after? The damage might not have been apparent until she woke up from anaesthesia. He did well, otherwise; got the whole tumour, as near as damn it. And yet the course of that young woman鈥檚 life is completely changed all the same. A lot of the things she wanted to do aren鈥檛 possible anymore. I bet it felt just a little bit like failure, even if he saved her life.
It makes me doubt being a doctor, a little. But it also makes me think about the importance of good doctors 鈥� not just technically good, but doctors who try to do good; who may make mistakes, but admit to them, and try to redress the damage. I want to be one of them, for sure.
March 16, 2023
Henry Marsh doesn't flinch away from describing his failures as well as his successes and I truly appreciate his honesty. He comes across as a self-aware and intense person with high standards of care who would be challenging to work with, while also being humble and caring, and sometimes even tender with his patients.
Marsh's anger at the UK's government run universal healthcare, the National Health Service (NHS), is palpable. Like most surgeons I would surmise, he just wants to perform surgery and not deal with the bureaucracy of the NHS. One quote that illustrates this: ""I'm Henry Marsh," I said to the young man as he came up to me becoming a kind and polite surgeon instead of an impotent and angry victim of government targets.""
I especially enjoyed his sojourns to Ukraine where he works with Igor Petrovich Kurilets who is another interesting character and surgeon. Sometimes the descriptions of the surgeries were a bit much for me, but never to the point where I wanted to stop listening, as it was quite fascinating overall.
Thought provoking quotes:
"In America there are far more patients and therefore more patients with such tumors. The patients are less deferential and trusting than they are in Britain. They are more like consumers than petitioners, so they are more likely to make sure they are treated by an experienced surgeon."
"It is sad how easy it is to dismiss people with damaged or disfigured faces. To forget the feelings behind their mask-like faces are no less intense than our own."
This book is wonderfully narrated by Jim Barclay. He is truly invested and reads as if he is telling his own story.
Marsh's anger at the UK's government run universal healthcare, the National Health Service (NHS), is palpable. Like most surgeons I would surmise, he just wants to perform surgery and not deal with the bureaucracy of the NHS. One quote that illustrates this: ""I'm Henry Marsh," I said to the young man as he came up to me becoming a kind and polite surgeon instead of an impotent and angry victim of government targets.""
I especially enjoyed his sojourns to Ukraine where he works with Igor Petrovich Kurilets who is another interesting character and surgeon. Sometimes the descriptions of the surgeries were a bit much for me, but never to the point where I wanted to stop listening, as it was quite fascinating overall.
Thought provoking quotes:
"In America there are far more patients and therefore more patients with such tumors. The patients are less deferential and trusting than they are in Britain. They are more like consumers than petitioners, so they are more likely to make sure they are treated by an experienced surgeon."
"It is sad how easy it is to dismiss people with damaged or disfigured faces. To forget the feelings behind their mask-like faces are no less intense than our own."
This book is wonderfully narrated by Jim Barclay. He is truly invested and reads as if he is telling his own story.
January 17, 2015
This book should be compulsory reading for:
- Anyone who has ever been treated by the NHS
- Anyone who will ever conceivably be treated by the NHS
- Anyone who has, or ever will, undergo serious surgery of any kind
Henry Marsh is a world-renowned neurosurgeon who had been working as a consultant for the NHS for almost thirty years at the time that the book was written. It gives a fascinating insight into neurosurgery itself as well as the changes that have occurred in British healthcare over that time. While some of these changes are undoubtedly for the better (when Marsh started out working in hospitals, there was a bar in which doctors drank and smoked for hours while on call); many of them are negative. The reader sees through Marsh's eyes the devastation wrought by ever-changing and unrealistic government targets, unreliable technology and the increasingly labyrinthine bureaucracy that all NHS workers need to wade through each day.
But the best thing about Do No Harm is that it breaks down the invisible wall between patients and doctor and shows surgeons as they really are: anxious, fallible and human. Marsh describes his surgical mistakes (many of which have utterly devastating consequences) as well as his triumphs.
It's a book like nothing I've ever read and would recommend it to pretty much everyone apart from the incurably squeamish.
- Anyone who has ever been treated by the NHS
- Anyone who will ever conceivably be treated by the NHS
- Anyone who has, or ever will, undergo serious surgery of any kind
Henry Marsh is a world-renowned neurosurgeon who had been working as a consultant for the NHS for almost thirty years at the time that the book was written. It gives a fascinating insight into neurosurgery itself as well as the changes that have occurred in British healthcare over that time. While some of these changes are undoubtedly for the better (when Marsh started out working in hospitals, there was a bar in which doctors drank and smoked for hours while on call); many of them are negative. The reader sees through Marsh's eyes the devastation wrought by ever-changing and unrealistic government targets, unreliable technology and the increasingly labyrinthine bureaucracy that all NHS workers need to wade through each day.
But the best thing about Do No Harm is that it breaks down the invisible wall between patients and doctor and shows surgeons as they really are: anxious, fallible and human. Marsh describes his surgical mistakes (many of which have utterly devastating consequences) as well as his triumphs.
It's a book like nothing I've ever read and would recommend it to pretty much everyone apart from the incurably squeamish.
April 9, 2017
In 25 chapters, each built around a neurosurgical operation (infections and strokes but mostly tumors), the author provides vivid accounts of patients before and after surgery as well as encounters with Britain鈥檚 National Health Service.
Far more than the average doctor-memoirist, Marsh does not conceal his feelings, whether dealing with patients, colleagues, assistants, or superiors, and he spares no one when matters turn out badly.
Beautifully written , candid, and honest about the advantages and misgivings during his career, Dr Marsh, lays it down on paper as it is.
Far more than the average doctor-memoirist, Marsh does not conceal his feelings, whether dealing with patients, colleagues, assistants, or superiors, and he spares no one when matters turn out badly.
Beautifully written , candid, and honest about the advantages and misgivings during his career, Dr Marsh, lays it down on paper as it is.
August 22, 2016
Is there anything more frightening than the thought of being diagnosed with a brain tumour? In the vast world of illness and disease, it is perhaps the singular worst thing any patient can begin to comprehend. Dr Marsh has made a career out of performing complex surgical procedures on such patients, and not always with a positive result.
The brain is a fascinating yet often poorly understood organ. As a registered nurse, I have cared for patients afflicted by hundreds - if not thousands - of different ailments, however disease of the brain is perhaps one of the most overwhelming. It controls every part of our being; our thought processes, our emotions, behaviours, desires and so much more. Dr Marsh writes a gripping memoir dedicated to his many years of operating on some of the sickest patients in the country.
I enjoyed much of the book, and as a fellow NHS worker, could highly empathise with Dr Marsh's frustrations on the red tape that interferes with the care we give. From difficult staff parking to the ever changing government and management enforced regulations, none of the complications that mounted pressure on an already stressful job came as a surprise to me.
Dr Marsh is not afraid of admitting his weaknesses, both personally and professionally. At times he is pompous, arrogant and self important. Although I do not wish to tar all surgeons with the same brush, in my experience the surgical brand of senior doctors do tend to behave in a particular way! Some of the writing is very much tongue-in-cheek (example: referring to an overweight patient as "a small whale".)
It could be argued Dr Marsh appears unsympathetic towards his patients, although I could understand to an extent that a degree of emotional detachment is required.
I was impressed of Dr Marsh not coming from a traditional medical background. Although privately taught, he worked as both a porter and a nurses assistant before his medical training - something I wish could be made mandatory for modern would be doctors. I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on the role of nurses in neurosurgery, both the operation itself and its long aftercare. Otherwise, I fully enjoyed this memoir and only wished it were a little longer. Deserving of its place on the Costa Coffee book club short list.
The brain is a fascinating yet often poorly understood organ. As a registered nurse, I have cared for patients afflicted by hundreds - if not thousands - of different ailments, however disease of the brain is perhaps one of the most overwhelming. It controls every part of our being; our thought processes, our emotions, behaviours, desires and so much more. Dr Marsh writes a gripping memoir dedicated to his many years of operating on some of the sickest patients in the country.
I enjoyed much of the book, and as a fellow NHS worker, could highly empathise with Dr Marsh's frustrations on the red tape that interferes with the care we give. From difficult staff parking to the ever changing government and management enforced regulations, none of the complications that mounted pressure on an already stressful job came as a surprise to me.
Dr Marsh is not afraid of admitting his weaknesses, both personally and professionally. At times he is pompous, arrogant and self important. Although I do not wish to tar all surgeons with the same brush, in my experience the surgical brand of senior doctors do tend to behave in a particular way! Some of the writing is very much tongue-in-cheek (example: referring to an overweight patient as "a small whale".)
It could be argued Dr Marsh appears unsympathetic towards his patients, although I could understand to an extent that a degree of emotional detachment is required.
I was impressed of Dr Marsh not coming from a traditional medical background. Although privately taught, he worked as both a porter and a nurses assistant before his medical training - something I wish could be made mandatory for modern would be doctors. I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on the role of nurses in neurosurgery, both the operation itself and its long aftercare. Otherwise, I fully enjoyed this memoir and only wished it were a little longer. Deserving of its place on the Costa Coffee book club short list.
July 5, 2022
Addictive, short chapters filled with the horrors and wonders of the physical brain - impossible to put down, if slightly repetitive. Knausgaard's great NYTimes article got me into this, and it was a happy morning of reading.
May 19, 2020
携 薪褨泻芯谢懈 薪械 写褍屑邪谢邪, 褖芯 屑械薪褨 褌邪泻 谢械谐泻芯 斜褍写械 褔懈褌邪褌懈 泻薪懈卸泻褍 锌褉芯 薪械泄褉芯褏褨褉褍褉谐褨褞. 袦芯卸谢懈胁芯 褑械 蟹邪胁写褟泻懈 锌芯褋褌褨泄薪芯屑褍 锌械褉械谐谢褟写褍 褋械褉褨邪谢褍 Grey's Anatomy, 锌褨褋锟斤拷褟 褟泻芯谐芯 褌械斜械 薪械 褌褨谢褜泻懈 屑械写懈褔薪邪 谢械泻褋懈泻邪 薪械 谢褟泻邪褦, 褌邪 薪邪胁褨褌褜 芯锌懈褋邪薪褨 芯锌械褉邪褑褨褩 褌懈 褋芯斜褨 褋锌芯泻褨泄薪芯 褍褟胁谢褟褦褕 褨 褑械 褌械斜械 薪械 褕芯泻褍褦.
袨锌懈褋邪薪械 胁 泻薪懈蟹褨 胁泻芯褌褉械 锌褨写褌胁械褉写懈谢芯 屑械薪褨, 褖芯 薪械胁懈蟹薪邪薪薪褟 胁谢邪褋薪懈褏 锌芯屑懈谢芯泻 鈥� 卸邪褏谢懈胁邪 褉懈褋邪, 邪谢械 褟泻褖芯 褌懈 谢褨泻邪褉 鈥� 褑械 褖械 泄 卸邪褏谢懈胁懈泄 蟹谢芯褔懈薪. 袦邪褦屑芯 锌邪屑鈥櫻徰傂把傂� , 褖芯 谢褨泻邪褉褨 褋褌邪褞褌褜 锌褉芯褎械褋褨芯薪邪谢邪屑懈, 蟹邪谢懈褕邪褞褔懈 蟹邪 褋芯斜芯褞 写芯胁谐懈泄 锌械褉械谢褨泻 芯谐褉褨褏褨胁, 褖芯 锌芯泻邪谢褨褔懈谢懈 褔懈褩褋褜 卸懈褌褌褟 褌邪 写芯谢褨. 啸褌芯褋褜 屑邪褦 褋褌褉邪卸写邪褌懈, 褏褌芯褋褜 鈥� 锌芯屑械褉褌懈, 邪斜懈 褏褌芯褋褜 褨薪褕懈泄 胁懈卸懈胁. 笑褟 卸芯褉褋褌芯泻邪 锌褉邪胁写邪 卸懈褌褌褟 锌褍谢褜褋褍胁邪谢邪 胁 泻芯卸薪褨泄 褨褋褌芯褉褨褩 谢褨泻邪褉褟 袦邪褉褕邪.
携 薪褨泻芯谢懈 薪械 写褍屑邪谢邪, 褖芯 屑械薪褨 褌邪泻 谢械谐泻芯 斜褍写械 褔懈褌邪褌懈 泻薪懈卸泻褍 锌褉芯 薪械泄褉芯褏褨褉褍褉谐褨褞. 袦芯卸谢懈胁芯 褌芯屑褍, 褖芯 胁芯薪邪 锌褉芯 谢褞写懈薪褍 褌邪泻褍 卸 薪械写芯褋泻芯薪邪谢褍, 褟泻 褨 屑懈 蟹 胁邪屑懈.
袨锌懈褋邪薪械 胁 泻薪懈蟹褨 胁泻芯褌褉械 锌褨写褌胁械褉写懈谢芯 屑械薪褨, 褖芯 薪械胁懈蟹薪邪薪薪褟 胁谢邪褋薪懈褏 锌芯屑懈谢芯泻 鈥� 卸邪褏谢懈胁邪 褉懈褋邪, 邪谢械 褟泻褖芯 褌懈 谢褨泻邪褉 鈥� 褑械 褖械 泄 卸邪褏谢懈胁懈泄 蟹谢芯褔懈薪. 袦邪褦屑芯 锌邪屑鈥櫻徰傂把傂� , 褖芯 谢褨泻邪褉褨 褋褌邪褞褌褜 锌褉芯褎械褋褨芯薪邪谢邪屑懈, 蟹邪谢懈褕邪褞褔懈 蟹邪 褋芯斜芯褞 写芯胁谐懈泄 锌械褉械谢褨泻 芯谐褉褨褏褨胁, 褖芯 锌芯泻邪谢褨褔懈谢懈 褔懈褩褋褜 卸懈褌褌褟 褌邪 写芯谢褨. 啸褌芯褋褜 屑邪褦 褋褌褉邪卸写邪褌懈, 褏褌芯褋褜 鈥� 锌芯屑械褉褌懈, 邪斜懈 褏褌芯褋褜 褨薪褕懈泄 胁懈卸懈胁. 笑褟 卸芯褉褋褌芯泻邪 锌褉邪胁写邪 卸懈褌褌褟 锌褍谢褜褋褍胁邪谢邪 胁 泻芯卸薪褨泄 褨褋褌芯褉褨褩 谢褨泻邪褉褟 袦邪褉褕邪.
携 薪褨泻芯谢懈 薪械 写褍屑邪谢邪, 褖芯 屑械薪褨 褌邪泻 谢械谐泻芯 斜褍写械 褔懈褌邪褌懈 泻薪懈卸泻褍 锌褉芯 薪械泄褉芯褏褨褉褍褉谐褨褞. 袦芯卸谢懈胁芯 褌芯屑褍, 褖芯 胁芯薪邪 锌褉芯 谢褞写懈薪褍 褌邪泻褍 卸 薪械写芯褋泻芯薪邪谢褍, 褟泻 褨 屑懈 蟹 胁邪屑懈.
December 29, 2015
3.5 STARS
October 1, 2023
6/10 猸愨瓙猸�
鈥淟a muerte est谩 acech谩ndolos, y yo trato de esconder a esa figura oscura que se acerca lentamente hacia ellos, o al menos de disfrazarla鈥�
No ha llegado al alto nivel que yo esperaba, pero no es mal libro.
El neurocirujano brit谩nico Henry Marsh escribe este libro con casos de sus pacientes y experiencias personales. Cada cap铆tulo (25 en total) es una operaci贸n. Son interesantes debido a la especialidad (neurocirug铆a) aunque, precisamente por eso, los casos tambi茅n son muy parecidos. Me ha provocado cierta sensaci贸n de que se repite.
La mayor铆a de casos son emotivos por el "hecho" pero no por la narraci贸n. No me parece una narraci贸n 铆ntima, aunque si sincera. Eso s铆, destacar el m茅rito que tiene hacer entendible, para todos los p煤blicos y profesiones, las diferentes enfermedades o dolencias y sus intervenciones y consecuencias.
鈥淟a muerte est谩 acech谩ndolos, y yo trato de esconder a esa figura oscura que se acerca lentamente hacia ellos, o al menos de disfrazarla鈥�
No ha llegado al alto nivel que yo esperaba, pero no es mal libro.
El neurocirujano brit谩nico Henry Marsh escribe este libro con casos de sus pacientes y experiencias personales. Cada cap铆tulo (25 en total) es una operaci贸n. Son interesantes debido a la especialidad (neurocirug铆a) aunque, precisamente por eso, los casos tambi茅n son muy parecidos. Me ha provocado cierta sensaci贸n de que se repite.
La mayor铆a de casos son emotivos por el "hecho" pero no por la narraci贸n. No me parece una narraci贸n 铆ntima, aunque si sincera. Eso s铆, destacar el m茅rito que tiene hacer entendible, para todos los p煤blicos y profesiones, las diferentes enfermedades o dolencias y sus intervenciones y consecuencias.
Read
November 30, 2020Autobiography of a brain surgeon. Fascinating and genuinely horrible, to the point where you vaguely wonder if people emerge from this sort of career with PTSD. The author spends a lot of the book sort of edging round the question of how you cut into someone's brain knowing that your actions can kill or 'wreck' them ie cause permanent life changing damage, but when failure to operate might also lead to death. Not edging as in avoiding, but it's clearly a pretty impossible question to answer, though he does at one point speculate that a lot of his peers are psychopaths. Also very honest about his own ego, bad temper, and high-handedness etc.
It's compelling in an 'oh Jesus this is my worst nightmare' sort of way. The rage against management seems of variable justification (yes, you have to take off your goddamn wristwatch for a bare forearms policy, grow up), but that against the NHS's slow death by a thousand cuts and PFI and bodged IT is something we can all get behind, preferably while overthrowing the government.
It's compelling in an 'oh Jesus this is my worst nightmare' sort of way. The rage against management seems of variable justification (yes, you have to take off your goddamn wristwatch for a bare forearms policy, grow up), but that against the NHS's slow death by a thousand cuts and PFI and bodged IT is something we can all get behind, preferably while overthrowing the government.
March 12, 2015
If you're a hypochondriac, steer clear. Otherwise, steel yourself and have a look-see at surgery from the other side (assuming you're not a neurosurgeon reading this). Henry Marsh is a British brain surgeon and a writer with a clear, straightforward style -- not only his diction, but his personality.
With each chapter named after a different (and terrible) thing that can go wrong with these miracle devices we call our brains and our bodies, he delivers anecdote after anecdote of actual cases he's experienced over the years, some ending happily, many not. What's refreshing is his human voice. Being seen as savior or demon (often depending on outcome of surgery) is no easy way to make a living, as readers will see.
Still, Marsh is not one to hide behind his vaunted profession and overly-romanticize it. In fact, he admits that errors happen. Things go wrong, even during routine operations. In one frightening case, he let a junior surgeon begin a rather straightforward procedure and an error causing permanent disablement occurred.
Rather than falsify records as many doctors do (and easily can, considering the patient is out and you're only surrounded by members of your team, the medical brethren), Marsh owned up to it. In his view, hospitals deserved to be sued in some cases -- a man like this should at least win a settlement to help with the obvious ordeal lying ahead. Still, settlements or not, mistakes don't stop guilt from hounding doctors. At least doctors who care.
Despite all of the gloom and doom, there's an education to be had in this book. You can learn a lot about the brain's function and effects on other parts of the body. All pain is signaled by the brain. Hemispheres matter. Location and size of tumors matter. Some tumors are "sticky" and become problematic because they adhere too much to the brain. Others, more luckily, almost "pop" out with little coaxing -- like Teflon, even. One never knows until one goes into the brain, which on more than one occasion sounds as much the "last frontier" as outer space, especially when reading Marsh's graphic descriptions of the "landscape" in there.
Here's an excerpt showing Marsh's typical tone and overall humanity: "My outpatient clinic is an odd combination of the trivial and the deadly serious. It is here that I see patients weeks or months after I have operated on them, new referrals or long-term follow-ups. They are wearing their own clothes and I meet them as equals. They are not yet in-patients who have to submit to the depersonalizing rituals of being admitted to the hospital, to be tagged like captive birds or criminals and to be put into bed like children in hospital gowns. I refuse to have anybody else in the room -- no students, no junior doctors or nurses -- only the patients and their families."
The type of doctor you could put your faith in? I should say so. An education not only on the brain but on dying? That, too. The doctors know what's going down, and you will, too, once you read all of these cases. Sometimes no operation is the answer. Sometimes hope is your enemy -- bound only to prolong your suffering when palliative measures would be so much more humane.
Overall, a compelling document. With moments of humor, dark and not, Do No Harm rails against bureaucracy and government, and offers countless snapshots of people like you and me... always hoping the best from life, sometimes receiving the worst from it. In a word: fate.
With each chapter named after a different (and terrible) thing that can go wrong with these miracle devices we call our brains and our bodies, he delivers anecdote after anecdote of actual cases he's experienced over the years, some ending happily, many not. What's refreshing is his human voice. Being seen as savior or demon (often depending on outcome of surgery) is no easy way to make a living, as readers will see.
Still, Marsh is not one to hide behind his vaunted profession and overly-romanticize it. In fact, he admits that errors happen. Things go wrong, even during routine operations. In one frightening case, he let a junior surgeon begin a rather straightforward procedure and an error causing permanent disablement occurred.
Rather than falsify records as many doctors do (and easily can, considering the patient is out and you're only surrounded by members of your team, the medical brethren), Marsh owned up to it. In his view, hospitals deserved to be sued in some cases -- a man like this should at least win a settlement to help with the obvious ordeal lying ahead. Still, settlements or not, mistakes don't stop guilt from hounding doctors. At least doctors who care.
Despite all of the gloom and doom, there's an education to be had in this book. You can learn a lot about the brain's function and effects on other parts of the body. All pain is signaled by the brain. Hemispheres matter. Location and size of tumors matter. Some tumors are "sticky" and become problematic because they adhere too much to the brain. Others, more luckily, almost "pop" out with little coaxing -- like Teflon, even. One never knows until one goes into the brain, which on more than one occasion sounds as much the "last frontier" as outer space, especially when reading Marsh's graphic descriptions of the "landscape" in there.
Here's an excerpt showing Marsh's typical tone and overall humanity: "My outpatient clinic is an odd combination of the trivial and the deadly serious. It is here that I see patients weeks or months after I have operated on them, new referrals or long-term follow-ups. They are wearing their own clothes and I meet them as equals. They are not yet in-patients who have to submit to the depersonalizing rituals of being admitted to the hospital, to be tagged like captive birds or criminals and to be put into bed like children in hospital gowns. I refuse to have anybody else in the room -- no students, no junior doctors or nurses -- only the patients and their families."
The type of doctor you could put your faith in? I should say so. An education not only on the brain but on dying? That, too. The doctors know what's going down, and you will, too, once you read all of these cases. Sometimes no operation is the answer. Sometimes hope is your enemy -- bound only to prolong your suffering when palliative measures would be so much more humane.
Overall, a compelling document. With moments of humor, dark and not, Do No Harm rails against bureaucracy and government, and offers countless snapshots of people like you and me... always hoping the best from life, sometimes receiving the worst from it. In a word: fate.
April 19, 2022
啸械薪褉懈 袦邪褉褕 械 懈蟹胁械褋褌械薪 邪薪谐谢懈泄褋泻懈 薪械胁褉芯褏懈褉褍褉谐, 泻芯泄褌芯 芯锌懈褋胁邪 薪邪泄-褌褉褍写薪懈褌械 屑芯屑械薪褌懈 芯褌 泻邪褉懈械褉邪褌邪 褋懈 胁 屑械屑芯邪褉薪邪褌邪 泻薪懈谐邪 "袧邪 锌褗褉胁芯 屑褟褋褌芯, 薪械 胁褉械写懈". 袪邪蟹谢懈泻邪褌邪 屑械卸写褍 薪械谐芯 懈 斜褗谢谐邪褉褋泻懈褌械 谢械泻邪褉懈 械 芯谐褉芯屑薪邪. 袨褋薪芯胁薪懈褟褌 褎芯泻褍褋 薪邪 褉邪蟹泻邪蟹懈褌械 屑褍 械 胁褗褉褏褍 写芯锌褍褋薪邪褌懈褌械 谐褉械褕泻懈 懈 薪械胁芯谢薪芯 锌褉懈褔懈薪械薪邪褌邪 胁褉械写邪. 袧褟屑邪 写邪 薪邪屑械褉懈褌械 褋邪屑芯褏胁邪谢薪懈 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈 蟹邪 薪械谐芯胁芯褌芯 胁械谢懈褔懈械, 褍屑械薪懈褟 懈 蟹薪邪薪懈褟. 孝芯褔薪芯 芯斜褉邪褌薪芯褌芯, 芯锌懈褋邪薪懈褟褌邪 薪邪 锌邪褉邪谢懈蟹懈褉邪薪懈 锌邪褑懈械薪褌懈 褋谢械写 芯锌械褉邪褌懈胁薪懈 褍褋谢芯卸薪械薪懈褟 褋邪 斜芯谢械蟹薪械薪懈 蟹邪 褔械褌械薪械. 小褗褋 褋屑懈褉械薪懈械 懈 斜械蟹褋懈谢懈械 啸械薪褉懈 袦邪褉褕 锌褉懈蟹薪邪胁邪, 褔械 锌芯薪褟泻芯谐邪 芯褋褌邪胁褟 褏芯褉邪褌邪 胁 锌芯-谢芯褕芯 褋褗褋褌芯褟薪懈械 - 褋 芯胁谢邪写褟薪芯 蟹邪斜芯谢褟胁邪薪械, 薪芯 褋 褌褉邪泄薪懈 薪械胁褉芯谢芯谐懈褔薪懈 锌芯褋谢械写懈褑懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 薪懈泻芯谐邪 薪褟屑邪 写邪 褋械 锌芯写芯斜褉褟褌 懈谢懈 胁褗蟹褋褌邪薪芯胁褟褌. 袩褉芯泻褉邪写胁邪 褋械 褌械屑邪褌邪 蟹邪 卸懈胁芯褌邪 薪邪 胁褋褟泻邪 褑械薪邪 - 褋褌褉褍胁邪 谢懈 褋懈 写邪 褋锌邪褋懈褕 褔芯胁械泻邪 芯褌 屑芯蟹褗褔械薪 褌褍屑芯褉, 邪泻芯 褋谢械写 褌芯胁邪 褖械 卸懈胁械械 锌邪褉邪谢懈蟹懈褉邪薪 懈 懈蟹褑褟谢芯 蟹邪胁懈褋懈屑 芯褌 芯泻芯谢薪懈褌械? 袣薪懈谐邪褌邪 蟹邪写邪胁邪 褋谢芯卸薪懈 褎懈谢芯褋芯褎褋泻懈 胁褗锌褉芯褋懈, 薪芯 薪械 锌褉械写谢邪谐邪 谢械褋薪懈 芯褌谐芯胁芯褉懈. 袩褉械蟹 褑褟谢芯褌芯 胁褉械屑械 邪胁褌芯褉褗褌 褋械 芯斜胁懈薪褟胁邪, 褔械 薪械 械 锌芯褋褌懈谐薪邪谢 薪邪泄-写芯斜褉懈褟 胁褗蟹屑芯卸械薪 褉械蟹褍谢褌邪褌, 写芯褉懈 泻芯谐邪褌芯 薪械 蟹邪胁懈褋懈 锌褉褟泻芯 芯褌 薪械谐芯. 小褌褉械屑械卸褗褌 泻褗屑 锌械褉褎械泻褑懈芯薪懈蟹褗屑 薪邪 胁褋褟泻邪 褑械薪邪 械 锌芯褔褌懈 薪械胁褗蟹屑芯卸械薪 蟹邪 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪薪械 胁 褉芯写薪邪褌邪 斜褗谢谐邪褉褋泻邪 芯斜褋褌邪薪芯胁泻邪.
袣薪懈谐邪褌邪 薪械 械 蟹邪 胁褋械泻懈 - 褌褟 薪械 锌褉械写谢邪谐邪 谐械褉芯懈褔薪懈 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈 褋 褖邪褋褌谢懈胁 泻褉邪泄, 邪 斜芯谢械蟹薪械薪懈 锌褉懈蟹薪邪薪懈褟 蟹邪 褌褉褍写薪芯褋褌懈褌械 懈 芯谐褉邪薪懈褔械薪懈褟褌邪 薪邪 屑械写懈褑懈薪邪褌邪.
袣薪懈谐邪褌邪 薪械 械 蟹邪 胁褋械泻懈 - 褌褟 薪械 锌褉械写谢邪谐邪 谐械褉芯懈褔薪懈 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈 褋 褖邪褋褌谢懈胁 泻褉邪泄, 邪 斜芯谢械蟹薪械薪懈 锌褉懈蟹薪邪薪懈褟 蟹邪 褌褉褍写薪芯褋褌懈褌械 懈 芯谐褉邪薪懈褔械薪懈褟褌邪 薪邪 屑械写懈褑懈薪邪褌邪.
December 30, 2017
Was supposed to be a buddy-read with Ammar but I put it on hold for almost two months because I was studying a lot of medical cases at the time and the last thing I needed was to read another "textbook" (yeah that's how it felt sometimes)
Honestly, it wasn't like what I expected, I was a bit disappointed and I almost rated it with two stars, some cases felt just okay (everyday cases, nothing major, nothing interesting). Was Marsh just trying to fill the pages of his book? I really don't know. I thought he would only mention the rarest and most interesting cases that he came across during his long career or stories of patients that changed something in him.
But all in all, he is such a good author and doctor and I liked following his career progress and to see how he dealt differently with his patients over time.
I also really enjoyed reading the perspective of a neurosurgeon; someone in my family had a brain surgery a while ago and we really consider the surgeon a hero/angel/life-saver but what if something went wrong? would we still appreciate his efforts? I doubt it :(
All respect to all surgeons who save lives every day!
Honestly, it wasn't like what I expected, I was a bit disappointed and I almost rated it with two stars, some cases felt just okay (everyday cases, nothing major, nothing interesting). Was Marsh just trying to fill the pages of his book? I really don't know. I thought he would only mention the rarest and most interesting cases that he came across during his long career or stories of patients that changed something in him.
But all in all, he is such a good author and doctor and I liked following his career progress and to see how he dealt differently with his patients over time.
"If the operation succeeds the surgeon is a hero, but if it fails he is a villain"
I also really enjoyed reading the perspective of a neurosurgeon; someone in my family had a brain surgery a while ago and we really consider the surgeon a hero/angel/life-saver but what if something went wrong? would we still appreciate his efforts? I doubt it :(
"Perhaps they never quite realized just how dangerous the operation had been and how lucky they were to have recovered so well. Whereas the surgeon, for a while, has known heaven, having come very close to hell"
All respect to all surgeons who save lives every day!
October 20, 2014
I'm never sure about reading books that are related to my profession but Mr Marsh is highly regarded and I thought it would be very interesting to hear about his thoughts and experiences. It really is a lovely book. A good mixture of surgical, medical and personal experiences that's really wonderfully written. I think having a certain amount of medical knowledge made it a much more relaxing and easier read for me but am sure it would appeal to other non medical people too. I would warn people though that they might be shocked or surprised by some of Mr Marsh's honestly but I find that extremely comforting, reassuring and bold of him to be so very honest especially with regards to changes that have happened in the NHS over his career. A number of times I actually found myself laughing as he described 'run ins' with bureaucracy and management. I feel humble that I am part of the same profession of Mr Marsh with all his wisdom, experience, excellence, humanity and honesty.
June 13, 2019
Marsh is a complete breath of fresh air - full of compassion, knowledge, and empathy. This book was a profound look at life and death through the perspective of neurosurgery.
December 15, 2017
Quite honestly, this book was really unlike anything I've ever read before. This book should be read by anybody that has ever received treatment on the NHS, is awaiting treatment, or is going in for any kind of major surgery at any point.
This book is written by an extremely well known neurosurgeon, called Henry Marsh. His writing gives an incredible insight into neurosurgery, and the many changes the health care system has gone through for the last thirty years. Many of these changes have been rather negative, but there are also some positives.
What I like about Marsh, is the way he tells it like it really is. He doesn't sugarcoat things, and he explains why it needs to be this way, with some empathy, in order to maintain a healthy doctor patient relationship.
He quickly admits that things do in fact go wrong, even in apparently simple routine operations. Marsh describes his surgical mistakes as well as sharing his huge triumphs. This book remarkably reminds us that health care staff are human too, and they too, can make mistakes.
What is terribly shocking is the totally unreasonable and unrealistic Government targets, and the way these reflect on the staff, therefore it has a domino effect on the patients. Having the duty of bed management in a hospital is an extremely stressful job. I should know. I cannot imagine how frustrating it is as a surgeon to have serious, life threatening surgery cancelled, due to a lack of beds. It's truly horrendous.
This book is wonderfully educational and I found it fascinating, learning about neurosurgery, from an actual neurosurgeon, who really, is an inspiration.
This book is written by an extremely well known neurosurgeon, called Henry Marsh. His writing gives an incredible insight into neurosurgery, and the many changes the health care system has gone through for the last thirty years. Many of these changes have been rather negative, but there are also some positives.
What I like about Marsh, is the way he tells it like it really is. He doesn't sugarcoat things, and he explains why it needs to be this way, with some empathy, in order to maintain a healthy doctor patient relationship.
He quickly admits that things do in fact go wrong, even in apparently simple routine operations. Marsh describes his surgical mistakes as well as sharing his huge triumphs. This book remarkably reminds us that health care staff are human too, and they too, can make mistakes.
What is terribly shocking is the totally unreasonable and unrealistic Government targets, and the way these reflect on the staff, therefore it has a domino effect on the patients. Having the duty of bed management in a hospital is an extremely stressful job. I should know. I cannot imagine how frustrating it is as a surgeon to have serious, life threatening surgery cancelled, due to a lack of beds. It's truly horrendous.
This book is wonderfully educational and I found it fascinating, learning about neurosurgery, from an actual neurosurgeon, who really, is an inspiration.
March 30, 2018
袛械褋褜 薪邪 泻褍褉褋褨 褌褉械褌褜芯屑褍 褟 蟹褉芯蟹褍屑褨谢邪, 褖芯 锌芯屑懈谢懈谢邪褋褟 蟹 胁懈斜芯褉芯屑 锌褉芯褎械褋褨褩 褨 蟹邪屑褨褋褌褜 褎褨谢芯谢芯谐褨褩 胁芯谢褨谢邪 斜 胁懈胁褔邪褌懈... 屑械写懈褑懈薪褍. 袨写薪邪泻 褑械 斜褍谢邪 芯写薪邪 蟹 褌懈褏 锌芯屑懈谢芯泻, 褟泻褨 薪械 褌邪泻 谢械谐泻芯 胁懈锌褉邪胁懈褌懈. 袟谐芯写芯屑 屑械薪械 胁褋械-褌邪泻懈 蟹邪泻懈薪褍谢芯 斜谢懈蟹褜泻芯 写芯 屑械写懈褑懈薪懈 (屑邪褞 薪邪 褍胁邪蟹褨 屑芯褞 褋褜芯谐芯写薪褨褕薪褞 褉芯斜芯褌褍 褍 褋锌械褑褨邪谢褨蟹芯胁邪薪芯屑褍 屑械写懈褔薪芯屑褍 胁懈写邪薪薪褨)))), 邪谢械 褑械 褉邪写褕械 褌邪泻邪 褋芯斜褨 泻芯屑锌械薪褋邪褑褨褟 写芯谢褨 蟹邪 薪械蟹写褨泄褋薪械薪褍 屑褉褨褞...
袗 芯褌 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕, 锌芯谢懈褕懈胁褕懈 锌芯谢褨褌芯谢芯谐褨褞 泄 蟹邪泄薪褟胁褕懈褋褜 胁懈胁褔械薪薪褟屑 屑械写懈褑懈薪懈, 褋锌褉芯屑褨谐褋褟 泻邪褉写懈薪邪谢褜薪芯 蟹屑褨薪懈褌懈 褋胁芯褦 卸懈褌褌褟. 袉 薪械 谢懈褕械 褋胁芯褦, 邪 泄 褌懈褋褟褔 锌邪褑褨褦薪褌褨胁, 泻芯褌褉懈屑 写芯锌芯屑褨谐 褟泻 芯写懈薪 褨蟹 薪邪泄胁褨写芯屑褨褕懈褏 褍 褋胁褨褌褨 薪械泄褉芯褏褨褉褍褉谐褨胁. 袛芯 褑褨褦褩 泻芯谐芯褉褌懈 胁褉褟褌芯胁邪薪懈褏 薪懈屑 薪邪谢械卸邪褌褜 褨 斜邪谐邪褌芯 褍泻褉邪褩薪褑褨胁, 斜芯 卸 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕 褍卸械 25 褉芯泻褨胁 褉械谐褍谢褟褉薪芯 锌褉懈褩蟹写懈褌褜 写芯 校泻褉邪褩薪懈 泄 写芯锌芯屑邪谐邪褦 薪邪褕懈屑 谐褉芯屑邪写褟薪邪屑.
袩褉芯 褑械 胁褨薪, 锌芯屑褨卸 褨薪褕芯谐芯, 褌邪泻芯卸 褉芯蟹锌芯胁褨写邪褦 褍 褋胁芯褩泄 泻薪懈蟹褨 鈥� 芯写薪褨泄 褨蟹 泻褨谢褜泻芯褩, 屑邪泄褋褌械褉薪芯 薪邪锌懈褋邪薪懈褏 褑褨褦褞 褉褨蟹薪芯斜褨褔薪芯 芯斜写邪褉芯胁邪薪芯褞 褨 褌邪谢邪薪芯胁懈褌芯褞 谢褞写懈薪芯褞. 校泻褉邪褩薪褋褜泻邪 屑械写懈褑懈薪邪 泄芯谐芯 芯褔懈屑邪 鈥� 褑械, 薪邪褋邪屑锌械褉械写, 斜褞褉芯泻褉邪褌褨褟, 泻芯褌褉邪 褌褉懈屑邪褦褌褜褋褟 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉懈褌械褌褨 锌褉芯褎械褋芯褉褨胁 褌邪 泻械褉褨胁薪懈泻褨胁 屑械写蟹邪泻谢邪写褨胁, 邪 薪械 褋懈褋褌械屑邪, 锌芯泻谢懈泻邪薪邪 褟泻薪邪泄谢褨锌褕械 写芯锌芯屑邪谐邪褌懈 褏胁芯褉懈屑. 袨写薪邪泻 锌褉懈褦屑薪芯 胁懈蟹薪邪胁邪褌懈 泄 褌械, 褖芯 胁芯薪邪, 褟泻 褨 屑懈, 锌芯褌褉芯褕泻褍, 锌芯胁褨谢褜薪芯, 邪谢械 胁褋械-褌邪泻懈 蟹屑褨薪褞褦褌褜褋褟.
袘褞褉芯泻褉邪褌褨褩, 胁褌褨屑, 胁懈褋褌邪褔邪褦 褨 胁 芯写薪褨泄 蟹 谢芯薪写芯薪褋褜泻懈褏 写械褉卸邪胁薪懈褏 泻谢褨薪褨泻, 写械 锌褉邪褑褞褦 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕. 校褖械薪褌 蟹邪锌芯胁薪械薪褨 锌邪谢邪褌懈 芯褔褨泻褍胁邪薪薪褟, 写芯胁谐褨 褋锌懈褋泻懈 锌邪褑褨褦薪褌褨胁, 褖械 写芯胁褕褨 褋锌懈褋泻懈 锌褉邪胁懈谢, 锌芯褔邪褋褌懈 薪械锌芯褌褉褨斜薪懈褏 褨 薪械写芯谢褍谐懈褏, 蟹邪 写芯褌褉懈屑邪薪薪褟屑 褟泻懈褏 褋谢褨写泻褍褦 屑邪褋懈胁薪邪 屑械薪械写卸械褉褋褜泻邪 屑邪褕懈薪邪, 鈥� 褑械 褌械, 蟹 褔懈屑 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕 薪械 屑芯卸械 蟹屑懈褉懈褌褋懈褟 泄 褍 褋胁芯褩泄 泻褉邪褩薪褨. 孝邪泻 褋邪屑芯, 褟泻 褨 胁 薪邪褋, 褌褨, 褏褌芯 褏芯褔械 芯褌褉懈屑邪褌懈 泻芯屑褎芯褉褌薪褍 屑械写懈褔薪褍 写芯锌芯屑芯谐褍, 薪邪写邪褞褌褜 锌械褉械胁邪谐褍 锌褉懈胁邪褌薪懈屑 泻谢褨薪褨泻邪屑. 袨写薪邪泻 褑械, 胁褌褨屑, 邪卸 薪褨褟泻 薪械 芯蟹薪邪褔邪褦, 褖芯 锌芯屑褨褔 谢褨泻邪褉褨胁 褨蟹 写械褉卸邪胁薪芯谐芯 褋械泻褌芯褉邪 屑械写懈褑懈薪懈 斜褍写械 屑械薪褕 锌褉芯褎械褋褨泄薪芯褞.
袣芯卸械薪 褉芯蟹写褨谢 泻薪懈谐懈 屑邪褦 薪邪蟹胁褍 薪械写褍谐懈 泄 褍 泻芯卸薪芯屑褍 褉芯蟹锌芯胁褨写邪褦褌褜褋褟 锌褉芯 芯写懈薪 褨蟹 褌懈褋褟褔 胁懈锌邪写泻褨胁, 褨蟹 褟泻懈屑懈 屑邪褞褌褜 褋锌褉邪胁褍 屑械写懈泻懈. 袟写械斜褨谢褜褕芯谐芯, 褑械 鈥� 褉褨蟹薪芯屑邪薪褨褌薪褨 锌褍褏谢懈薪懈, 褖芯 胁褉邪卸邪褞褌褜 谐芯谢芯胁薪懈泄 褔懈 褋锌懈薪薪懈泄 屑芯蟹芯泻, 褔邪褋褌芯 鈥� 褋屑械褉褌械谢褜薪褨, 褌芯屑褍 泄 谐芯胁芯褉懈褌懈 邪胁褌芯褉芯胁褨 写芯胁芯写懈褌褜褋褟 褨 锌褉芯 褌械, 褟泻 褑械 胁邪卸谢懈胁芯 鈥� 屑邪褌懈 屑芯卸谢懈胁褨褋褌褜 谐褨写薪芯 锌芯屑懈褉邪褌懈. 袨写薪邪泻 褍 屑械写懈褔薪褨泄 褌械褉屑褨薪芯谢芯谐褨褩 薪械 锌褉懈泄写械褌褜褋褟 锌谢褍褌邪褌懈褋褟 薪邪胁褨褌褜 薪械锌褨写谐芯褌芯胁谢械薪芯屑褍 褔懈褌邪褔械胁褨, 斜芯 薪械 胁芯薪邪 褌褍褌 芯褋薪芯胁薪邪. 袚芯谢芯胁薪械, 锌褉芯 褖芯 谐芯胁芯褉懈褌褜 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕, 鈥� 褑械 谢褞写褟薪褨褋褌褜 褨 褔械褋薪褨褋褌褜. 效械褋薪褨褋褌褜 锌械褉械写褍褋褨屑 锌械褉械写 褋邪屑懈屑 褋芯斜芯褞. 袘芯 谢懈褕械 褌邪泻, 蟹褨蟹薪邪胁褕懈褋褜 褋芯斜褨, 褖芯 褌懈 锌芯屑懈谢懈胁褋褟, 褖芯 胁褔懈薪懈胁 薪械锌褉邪胁懈谢褜薪芯, 屑芯卸薪邪 胁懈锌褉邪胁懈褌懈 褋懈褌褍邪褑褨褞. 携泻褖芯 胁芯薪邪, 蟹胁懈褔邪泄薪芯, 锌褨写写邪褦褌褜褋褟 胁懈锌褉邪胁谢械薪薪褞. 袗 褑械 胁邪卸谢懈胁芯 薪械 谢懈褕械 写谢褟 褏褨褉褍褉谐褨胁, 邪 泄 写谢褟 泻芯卸薪芯谐芯 蟹 薪邪褋...
袗 芯褌 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕, 锌芯谢懈褕懈胁褕懈 锌芯谢褨褌芯谢芯谐褨褞 泄 蟹邪泄薪褟胁褕懈褋褜 胁懈胁褔械薪薪褟屑 屑械写懈褑懈薪懈, 褋锌褉芯屑褨谐褋褟 泻邪褉写懈薪邪谢褜薪芯 蟹屑褨薪懈褌懈 褋胁芯褦 卸懈褌褌褟. 袉 薪械 谢懈褕械 褋胁芯褦, 邪 泄 褌懈褋褟褔 锌邪褑褨褦薪褌褨胁, 泻芯褌褉懈屑 写芯锌芯屑褨谐 褟泻 芯写懈薪 褨蟹 薪邪泄胁褨写芯屑褨褕懈褏 褍 褋胁褨褌褨 薪械泄褉芯褏褨褉褍褉谐褨胁. 袛芯 褑褨褦褩 泻芯谐芯褉褌懈 胁褉褟褌芯胁邪薪懈褏 薪懈屑 薪邪谢械卸邪褌褜 褨 斜邪谐邪褌芯 褍泻褉邪褩薪褑褨胁, 斜芯 卸 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕 褍卸械 25 褉芯泻褨胁 褉械谐褍谢褟褉薪芯 锌褉懈褩蟹写懈褌褜 写芯 校泻褉邪褩薪懈 泄 写芯锌芯屑邪谐邪褦 薪邪褕懈屑 谐褉芯屑邪写褟薪邪屑.
袩褉芯 褑械 胁褨薪, 锌芯屑褨卸 褨薪褕芯谐芯, 褌邪泻芯卸 褉芯蟹锌芯胁褨写邪褦 褍 褋胁芯褩泄 泻薪懈蟹褨 鈥� 芯写薪褨泄 褨蟹 泻褨谢褜泻芯褩, 屑邪泄褋褌械褉薪芯 薪邪锌懈褋邪薪懈褏 褑褨褦褞 褉褨蟹薪芯斜褨褔薪芯 芯斜写邪褉芯胁邪薪芯褞 褨 褌邪谢邪薪芯胁懈褌芯褞 谢褞写懈薪芯褞. 校泻褉邪褩薪褋褜泻邪 屑械写懈褑懈薪邪 泄芯谐芯 芯褔懈屑邪 鈥� 褑械, 薪邪褋邪屑锌械褉械写, 斜褞褉芯泻褉邪褌褨褟, 泻芯褌褉邪 褌褉懈屑邪褦褌褜褋褟 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉懈褌械褌褨 锌褉芯褎械褋芯褉褨胁 褌邪 泻械褉褨胁薪懈泻褨胁 屑械写蟹邪泻谢邪写褨胁, 邪 薪械 褋懈褋褌械屑邪, 锌芯泻谢懈泻邪薪邪 褟泻薪邪泄谢褨锌褕械 写芯锌芯屑邪谐邪褌懈 褏胁芯褉懈屑. 袨写薪邪泻 锌褉懈褦屑薪芯 胁懈蟹薪邪胁邪褌懈 泄 褌械, 褖芯 胁芯薪邪, 褟泻 褨 屑懈, 锌芯褌褉芯褕泻褍, 锌芯胁褨谢褜薪芯, 邪谢械 胁褋械-褌邪泻懈 蟹屑褨薪褞褦褌褜褋褟.
袘褞褉芯泻褉邪褌褨褩, 胁褌褨屑, 胁懈褋褌邪褔邪褦 褨 胁 芯写薪褨泄 蟹 谢芯薪写芯薪褋褜泻懈褏 写械褉卸邪胁薪懈褏 泻谢褨薪褨泻, 写械 锌褉邪褑褞褦 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕. 校褖械薪褌 蟹邪锌芯胁薪械薪褨 锌邪谢邪褌懈 芯褔褨泻褍胁邪薪薪褟, 写芯胁谐褨 褋锌懈褋泻懈 锌邪褑褨褦薪褌褨胁, 褖械 写芯胁褕褨 褋锌懈褋泻懈 锌褉邪胁懈谢, 锌芯褔邪褋褌懈 薪械锌芯褌褉褨斜薪懈褏 褨 薪械写芯谢褍谐懈褏, 蟹邪 写芯褌褉懈屑邪薪薪褟屑 褟泻懈褏 褋谢褨写泻褍褦 屑邪褋懈胁薪邪 屑械薪械写卸械褉褋褜泻邪 屑邪褕懈薪邪, 鈥� 褑械 褌械, 蟹 褔懈屑 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕 薪械 屑芯卸械 蟹屑懈褉懈褌褋懈褟 泄 褍 褋胁芯褩泄 泻褉邪褩薪褨. 孝邪泻 褋邪屑芯, 褟泻 褨 胁 薪邪褋, 褌褨, 褏褌芯 褏芯褔械 芯褌褉懈屑邪褌懈 泻芯屑褎芯褉褌薪褍 屑械写懈褔薪褍 写芯锌芯屑芯谐褍, 薪邪写邪褞褌褜 锌械褉械胁邪谐褍 锌褉懈胁邪褌薪懈屑 泻谢褨薪褨泻邪屑. 袨写薪邪泻 褑械, 胁褌褨屑, 邪卸 薪褨褟泻 薪械 芯蟹薪邪褔邪褦, 褖芯 锌芯屑褨褔 谢褨泻邪褉褨胁 褨蟹 写械褉卸邪胁薪芯谐芯 褋械泻褌芯褉邪 屑械写懈褑懈薪懈 斜褍写械 屑械薪褕 锌褉芯褎械褋褨泄薪芯褞.
袣芯卸械薪 褉芯蟹写褨谢 泻薪懈谐懈 屑邪褦 薪邪蟹胁褍 薪械写褍谐懈 泄 褍 泻芯卸薪芯屑褍 褉芯蟹锌芯胁褨写邪褦褌褜褋褟 锌褉芯 芯写懈薪 褨蟹 褌懈褋褟褔 胁懈锌邪写泻褨胁, 褨蟹 褟泻懈屑懈 屑邪褞褌褜 褋锌褉邪胁褍 屑械写懈泻懈. 袟写械斜褨谢褜褕芯谐芯, 褑械 鈥� 褉褨蟹薪芯屑邪薪褨褌薪褨 锌褍褏谢懈薪懈, 褖芯 胁褉邪卸邪褞褌褜 谐芯谢芯胁薪懈泄 褔懈 褋锌懈薪薪懈泄 屑芯蟹芯泻, 褔邪褋褌芯 鈥� 褋屑械褉褌械谢褜薪褨, 褌芯屑褍 泄 谐芯胁芯褉懈褌懈 邪胁褌芯褉芯胁褨 写芯胁芯写懈褌褜褋褟 褨 锌褉芯 褌械, 褟泻 褑械 胁邪卸谢懈胁芯 鈥� 屑邪褌懈 屑芯卸谢懈胁褨褋褌褜 谐褨写薪芯 锌芯屑懈褉邪褌懈. 袨写薪邪泻 褍 屑械写懈褔薪褨泄 褌械褉屑褨薪芯谢芯谐褨褩 薪械 锌褉懈泄写械褌褜褋褟 锌谢褍褌邪褌懈褋褟 薪邪胁褨褌褜 薪械锌褨写谐芯褌芯胁谢械薪芯屑褍 褔懈褌邪褔械胁褨, 斜芯 薪械 胁芯薪邪 褌褍褌 芯褋薪芯胁薪邪. 袚芯谢芯胁薪械, 锌褉芯 褖芯 谐芯胁芯褉懈褌褜 袚械薪褉褨 袦邪褉褕, 鈥� 褑械 谢褞写褟薪褨褋褌褜 褨 褔械褋薪褨褋褌褜. 效械褋薪褨褋褌褜 锌械褉械写褍褋褨屑 锌械褉械写 褋邪屑懈屑 褋芯斜芯褞. 袘芯 谢懈褕械 褌邪泻, 蟹褨蟹薪邪胁褕懈褋褜 褋芯斜褨, 褖芯 褌懈 锌芯屑懈谢懈胁褋褟, 褖芯 胁褔懈薪懈胁 薪械锌褉邪胁懈谢褜薪芯, 屑芯卸薪邪 胁懈锌褉邪胁懈褌懈 褋懈褌褍邪褑褨褞. 携泻褖芯 胁芯薪邪, 蟹胁懈褔邪泄薪芯, 锌褨写写邪褦褌褜褋褟 胁懈锌褉邪胁谢械薪薪褞. 袗 褑械 胁邪卸谢懈胁芯 薪械 谢懈褕械 写谢褟 褏褨褉褍褉谐褨胁, 邪 泄 写谢褟 泻芯卸薪芯谐芯 蟹 薪邪褋...
October 28, 2015
As a veterinary technician and someone who has been in the medical field for 11 years, I was really, really excited to read this book. I got a few chapters in and couldn't stand how incredibly egotistical he is.
There are a lot of parts in the book that I can relate to but most of it is just about how much he is above other doctors in the hospital (as well as staff and the general public) because he is a neurosurgeon. I got halfway through the book and had to stop reading because he is just such an ass to the other staff and clinicians at his hospital, I couldn't take it any more! He is the stereotypical surgeon that I cannot STAND working with- throwing things, yelling, believing he is god's gift to the earth. I could see why a lot of people like the book for the stories of each patient he tells, but I couldn't look past his immense ego.
Very disappointing read, interesting description of the cases but his ego puts a dark storm cloud over the entire book to me.
There are a lot of parts in the book that I can relate to but most of it is just about how much he is above other doctors in the hospital (as well as staff and the general public) because he is a neurosurgeon. I got halfway through the book and had to stop reading because he is just such an ass to the other staff and clinicians at his hospital, I couldn't take it any more! He is the stereotypical surgeon that I cannot STAND working with- throwing things, yelling, believing he is god's gift to the earth. I could see why a lot of people like the book for the stories of each patient he tells, but I couldn't look past his immense ego.
Very disappointing read, interesting description of the cases but his ego puts a dark storm cloud over the entire book to me.
May 29, 2016
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO! ME ENCANTO! ME ENCANTO!
(si les interesa la confesi贸n humana, realista, dolorosa, humilde y valiente de un neurocirujano, l茅anlo!)
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO!
ME ENCANTO! ME ENCANTO! ME ENCANTO!
(si les interesa la confesi贸n humana, realista, dolorosa, humilde y valiente de un neurocirujano, l茅anlo!)
June 20, 2024
袙谢褍褔薪褨褕芯褩 薪邪蟹胁懈 写谢褟 褑褨褦褩 泻薪懈谐懈 谐芯写褨 褨 锌褉懈写褍屑邪褌懈. 袙芯薪邪 斜褍泻胁邪谢褜薪芯 芯锌懈褋褍褦 胁褋褞 褑褞 褔褍写芯胁褍 泻薪懈谐褍.
May 10, 2017
I鈥檝e had Do No Harm on my kindle for 3 years, yes, YEARS! After reading Fragile Lives earlier this year, I figured I鈥檇 give this one a go as instead of a cardiac surgery this book centres on neurosurgery. I have a morbid fascination with medical things like that so I was looking forward to it.
Henry Marsh has written a very interesting book. He鈥檚 no Derek Shepherd in terms of drama and excitement, but he is dealing with the everyday lives of his patients. Do No Harm gives the reader an interesting glimpse into what it鈥檚 like to be a neurosurgeon and the things they go through inside and outside of the surgical theatre.
I don鈥檛 know what I was expecting when I picked it up but what I found was an honest memoir. It had case studies in every chapter, as well as a glimpse into Marsh鈥檚 own life outside of surgery, and how it impacted his home life.
It鈥檚 an easy read in terms of pace and writing, but it鈥檚 all too easy to forget you are reading about patients. Any one of us could end up on an operating theatre table needing help from a man like this.
The irony of Do No Harm, for me, was that my eldest child ended up in A&E on the day I read this book. He fell after deciding spinning around to make himself dizzy was a good idea and proceeded to hit his head!!! He is completely fine, but this book couldn鈥檛 have been read at a worse time!
Do No Harm is definitely a book to read if you like true life medical stories! Interesting, graphic but always honest!
Recommended!
Henry Marsh has written a very interesting book. He鈥檚 no Derek Shepherd in terms of drama and excitement, but he is dealing with the everyday lives of his patients. Do No Harm gives the reader an interesting glimpse into what it鈥檚 like to be a neurosurgeon and the things they go through inside and outside of the surgical theatre.
I don鈥檛 know what I was expecting when I picked it up but what I found was an honest memoir. It had case studies in every chapter, as well as a glimpse into Marsh鈥檚 own life outside of surgery, and how it impacted his home life.
It鈥檚 an easy read in terms of pace and writing, but it鈥檚 all too easy to forget you are reading about patients. Any one of us could end up on an operating theatre table needing help from a man like this.
The irony of Do No Harm, for me, was that my eldest child ended up in A&E on the day I read this book. He fell after deciding spinning around to make himself dizzy was a good idea and proceeded to hit his head!!! He is completely fine, but this book couldn鈥檛 have been read at a worse time!
Do No Harm is definitely a book to read if you like true life medical stories! Interesting, graphic but always honest!
Recommended!
November 2, 2018
No he podido dejar de emocionarme durante todo el libro y soltar lagrimones. Es muy ameno y humano.
July 4, 2017
What an amazing life Dr Marsh has lived. From geriatric psych nurse to renown in neurosurgery, his authentic thoughts and revisitation of heartbreaking and interesting cases and patients reminds us all, life is most definitely precious. Marveling at the details of the various classes of tumors, benign and neoplastic, I was very intrigued to read it all. As well, his risk in undertaking a mentor role, taking Ukrainian neurosurgeons under his tutelage...bravo. A real, human, honest account from the POV of a veteran expert. will try hard to take away some of his attitudes the next time I may get a ribbing from our own super talented Chinese peds neurosurgeon: hero to so many locally.
October 13, 2022
Un libro duro, sobre todo cuando el paso del tiempo acerca las enfermedades a nuestra vida diaria y, el azar o la suerte, juegan un importante papel. Henry Marsh humaniza la medicina en la medida en que se sit煤a como una pieza m谩s en este tablero que es la vida y la muerte.
Un libro doloroso y fant谩stico.
Un libro doloroso y fant谩stico.
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