Bed Number Ten / Edition 1

by Sue Baier, Mary Zimmeth Schomaker

Overview

A patient's personal view of long term care.

Seen through the eyes of a patient totally paralyzed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, this moving book takes you through the psychological and physical pain of an eleven month hospital stay. BED NUMBER TEN reads like a compelling novel, but is entirely factual.

You will meet:

The ICU staff who learned to communicate with the paralyzed woman - and those who did not bother.

The physicians whose visits left her baffled about her own case.

The staff and physicians who spoke to her and others who did not recognize her presence.

The nurse who tucked Sue tightly under the covers, unaware that she was soaking with perspiration.

The nurse who took the time to feed her drop by drop, as she slowly learned how to swallow again.

The physical therapist who could read her eyes and spurred her on to move again as if the battle were his own.

In these pages, which reveal the caring, the heroism, and the insensitivity sometimes found in the health care fields, you may even meet people you know.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780849342707
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/31/1989
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Baier, Sue; Schomaker, Mary Zimmeth

Editorial Reviews

"...offers invaluable messages for anyone dealing with dependency, suffering, loneliness, helplessness, or acute or chronic debilitating diseases - in short, for anyone taking care of others. No one reading this book will ever again regard the helpless or incommunicative patient the same way."- New England Journal of Medicine

"It is a powerful book, which - thankfully -has a happy ending. But the sadness outweighs the gladness, especially where Baier's medical care is concerned. Perhaps BED NUMBER TEN should be required reading at medical schools." -Macon Telegraph and News

"Baier gives us a palpable sense of the course of the disease, the pain endured, the depression and loneliness...sincere and honest..." -The Boston Herald

"...if I or someone I care about were felled by Guillain-Barre Syndrome, BED NUMBER TEN is the handbook I'd recommend for battling through the physical anguish, the emotional terror and the mental strain of coming back from G.B.S...." -Des Moines Register

"I cannot begin to explain the importance of this book for health care professionals as well as the general public. As a nurse educator, this book has had profound impact on me as I attempt to teach students the art of caring for acute and chronically ill persons." -RN, MS (Nursing College)

"The story of her illness is interesting reading and a reminder of how fragile good health is and how cherished it should be." -Sue Allison, United Press International

"Baier's chronicle of courage offers hope to victims of the catastrophic disease." -Publishers Weekly

"...offers invaluable messages for anyone dealing with dependency, suffering, loneliness, helplessness, or acute or chronic debilitating diseases - in short, for anyone taking care of others. No one reading this book will ever again regard the helpless or incommunicative patient the same way."- New England Journal of Medicine

From the Publisher