One Doctor: Close Calls, Cold Cases, and the Mysteries of Medicine
Reilly’s medical narrative nicely intertwines true stories of challenging patients—­difficult diagnoses, tough medical and ethical decisions, and the management of critically ill people—with valuable lessons on doctoring and patienthood. A fever of unknown origin, profound thyroid deficiency, severe hypoglycemia, chest pain, delirium, bleeding bladder cancer, and life-threatening infection of a heart valve are some of the medical problems encountered. Reilly, a hospital physician with 40 years of experience, also recounts caring for his elderly parents. He writes about the importance of grunt work in medicine, sustained doctor-patient relationships, and clinical instinct. The doctor confesses, Over the years I’ve learned to listen to my gut, but that doesn’t mean I can trust it. Indeed, medical decision making can be hard and hazardous. Risk and probability always factor into it. A medical problem can be handled in multiple ways, but outcomes are never guaranteed. Benefit and harm are both possibilities. Reilly admits that physicians know lots about regret but rarely discuss it. Empathy and thoughtfulness—One Doctor has oodles of it. --Tony Miksanek