Sunday, October 24, 2010

Making Miracles Happen (1997)

by Gregory White Smith and Steven Naifeh

From Booklist: "When you live with a brain tumor for 20 years, you learn a lot about medicine and about yourself. Smith ( and Naifeh, his twenty-two-year partner and coauthor; their Jackson Pollock [1990] won a Pulitzer Prize) learned how to keep searching until he found the right doctor and the right treatment. He also discovered the importance of the right attitude and of companionable support: be persistent, he says, and when seeing the doctor, have a companion to help in asking questions and remembering instructions. To find the best doctor for your problem, he says, ask other doctors, not their patients; search always for opinions and developing options, not a single right answer; and keep mutual respect between doctor and patient as a goal. Above all, Smith counsels, don't let a disease or an impairing condition turn you into someone different from what you have been."

This is an important book that will be a guide to anyone facing a serious illness.  Gregory White Smith is the prototypical "Akamai Patient."