After a life-altering medical fiasco, Addison spends the next few years fighting to get her old life back and beat the original diagnosis of left-side hemiplegia. Through this journey, she discovers the most significant hindrances as well as the most helpful tips and tricks along the way.
In this book, you will find out what she did to recover from her stroke at age sixteen when she was told she would never walk on her own again.
An incredible memoir from one of the world’s most eminent heart surgeons, Professor Stephen Westaby, detailing some of the most remarkable and poignant cases he has worked on. Grim Reaper sits on the heart surgeon's shoulder. A slip of the hand and life ebbs away. The balance between life and death is so delicate, and the heart surgeon walks that rope between the two. In the operating room, there is no time for doubt. It is flesh, blood, rib-retractors, and pumping the vital organ with your bare hand to squeeze the life back into it. An off-day can have dire consequences – this job has a steep learning curve, and the cost is measured in human life. Cardiac surgery is not for the faint of heart.
Professor Westaby took chances and pushed the boundaries of heart surgery. He saved hundreds of lives over the course of a thirty-five-year career. Now, in his astounding memoir, Westaby details some of his most remarkable and poignant cases – such as the baby who had suffered multiple heart attacks by six months old, a woman who lived the nightmare of locked-in syndrome, and a man whose life was powered by a battery for eight years.
A powerful, important, and incredibly moving book, Fragile Lives offers an exceptional insight into the exhilarating and sometimes tragic world of heart surgery, and how it feels to hold someone's life in your hands.