Looking Within: Understanding Ourselves through Human Imaging

by Cullen Ruff

Overview

What would it be like to have x-ray vision?Beyond diagnosing illness or injury, can images of ourselves tell us more about life?What if you could see that an accident victim will never walk again; that a young mother has breast cancer; or that a teenager is brain-dead and will be removed from life support? Can imaging help us better appreciate the complexity of existence, our strengths and vulnerabilities? Does looking into the body give insight into what it means to be human? Would it allow you, at least indirectly, to glimpse evidence of the human soul?Looking Within is the first mainstream collection of dramatic non-fiction narratives about discoveries in patients found by medical imaging. Ruff highlights the wonder and mystery of the human body, literally and metaphorically looking inside of others. Each story describes a patient in whom a life-changing discovery is made: tumors, stroke, domestic violence, substance abuse, sterility, unexpected pregnancy, infection, surgical complications, evidence of criminal activity, mental illness, even impending death. Dr. Ruff’s words, images, and insights help us see ourselves like never before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611533224
Publisher:	Light Messages Publishing
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	268
Sales rank:	742,652
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Cullen Ruff, MD, is a radiologist in private practice, and an associate professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University campus in Fairfax, VA, where he has received awards teaching medical students.Chapters from Looking Within have appeared in Radiology Today and UU World magazines, and in 2019, Ruff won a Washington, DC Moth story slam narrating a chapter from Looking Within.The author has published in online forums Univadis, Doximity, KevinMD, ImagingBiz, XrayVsn, and Waiting Room; and radiology magazines Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology Business Journal, in addition to scientific journal articles. Ruff is a Fellow of the American College of Radiology.

Table of Contents

Praise for Looking Within i

Images of Ourselves 1

Section I: Getting Started 7

Holding Out 9

Reversal 20

People Like Us 29

Detective Work 36

Section II: Discoveries 41

Peace 44

Blocked 51

Alien 58

Confession 63

Ultimate Denial 68

Brain Death 73

Family Secret 77

Section III: The More Unusual 85

In the Dark 87

Fractured 95

Abused 104

Mirror Image 111

Pearls of Wisdom 117

Surprise 125

Spared 130

Section IV: Foreign Bodies 135

Crying Wolf 138

System Failure 146

Abs of Steel 151

Au Naturel 158

Hard to Swallow 162

The Mule 169

Section V: Complications 175

Flushed 177

Inside Out 184

Do No Harm 193

Section VI: Reflections 203

Crossing the Boundary 206

Relative Risk 211

Yo-Yo 216

Self Discovery 222

Ike 232

The Judge 242

About the Author 249

Glossary of Radiological Terms 250

Glossary of Medical Training 252

Acknowledgements 253

References 254

Editorial Reviews

"Looking Within is a memorable voyage into the mysteries of medicine. Radiologist Dr. Cullen Ruff offers us a vivid and personal experience as he shares his stories of patients and reveals the precision of a scientific mind, and the compassion of a true healer. What a lovely book." --Dr. Bob Rosen, CEO of Healthy Companies International and best-selling author of Conscious, Grounded, Just Enough Anxiety, Leading People, Global Literacies, and The Healthy Company

"In Looking Within, Dr. Cullen Ruff illuminates the breadth and power of medical imaging as a diagnostic tool--and he goes beyond that to help us experience its beauty and poignancy. Radiology plays a vital and increasingly pervasive role in modern medicine, yet its practitioners continue to reside mostly in the shadows, and their work remains hidden. By sharing his experiences, Ruff brings the field, and the reader, out of the dark. A remarkable book. --Carolyn Jourdan, five-time Wall Street Journal best-selling author of medical memoir and biography, including Medicine Men.

"Dr. Ruff's book is compelling and insightful, and reflects his outstanding career as a radiologist physician. I urge everyone, physicians and the public alike, to read this brilliant work." --Jim Borgstede MD, past president and chairman of the board of the American College of Radiology

"Radiology is among the most distant and pitiless of medical specialties, where the body is exposed to the cold eye of technology in both astonishing and terrifying ways. But in Looking Within, Dr. Cullen Ruff refuses to stop at the images on the screen, and instead sees through them to the profound human stories they tell. Compelling, compassionate, honest, and wise." --Frank Huyler MD, author of The Blood of Strangers, The Laws of Invisible Things, and Right of Thirst

From the Publisher