Carrying the Black Bag: A Neurologist's Bedside Tales

by Tom Hutton

Overview

During his thirty-plus years of practicing in West Texas and Minnesota, physician and neurologist Tom Hutton discovered that a doctor’s best teachers are often his patients. From these (extra)ordinary individuals, he gained a whole-hearted respect for the resourcefulness, courage, and resilience of the human spirit.
            Part memoir and part homage to those patients who faced major illness with grace, grit, and dignity, Carrying the Black Bag invites readers to experience what it is like to be a doctor’s hands, eyes, and heart. Imagine the joy of witnessing a critically ill five-year-old who, against all odds, claws her way back from a coma and near certain death. Meet a lonely Texas widower with Parkinson’s disease who hosts elaborate pinochle parties for a pack of imaginary canines. Step into the surgical booties of the author when he attempts to deliver his own child amid heart-stopping obstetrical complications.
            Through real-life patient narratives, Hutton shines light on ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges. Moreover, this captivating tale captures the drama of medicine—its mystery, pathos, heroism, sacrifice, and humor.
            For more than just those working in the healthcare profession, Carrying the Black Bag also shares a behind-the-curtain peek at the rapidly changing American health care system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780896729544
Publisher:	Texas Tech University Press
Publication date:	11/15/2015
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tom Hutton, M.D., is an internationally recognized clinical and research neurologist and educator. The past president of the Texas Neurological Society, Dr. Hutton served as professor and vice chairman of the Department of Medical and Surgical Neurology at the Texas Tech School of Medicine. He now lives on his cattle ranch near Fredericksburg, Texas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue 3

Chapter 1 Of Middle Linebackers and Medicine 13

Chapter 2 The Midnight Meal 25

Chapter 3 Transfusions 33

Chapter 4 Learning Curve 49

Chapter 5 Sleuthing at the VA 67

Chapter 6 The Theodora Consult 93

Chapter 7 Rolling the Dice 107

Chapter 8 The Man Who Played Pinochle with Dogs 123

Chapter 9 At the Furrow's End 135

Chapter 10 Pinochle Redux 145

Chapter 11 Mind Spark 157

Chapter 12 Chosen Ones 171

Chapter 13 Did Adolf Hitler's Parkinson's Disease Affect the Outcome of World War II? 185

Chapter 14 Angels on the Ceiling 209

Chapter 15 Sail Away 219

Afterword 235

Index 243