Photo Credit and Blog advertisement: A Cup of Jo is written by Joanna Goddard. Your BHS media specialists read her blog on the regular. Joanna's sister was married Dr. Paul Kalanithi, the author of this book. Check out this post if you want to read more about Paul and his family (including two essays also written by him). | When Breath Becomes Air - a review by Greg Soden "When Breath Becomes Air" is the memoir of Dr. Paul Kalanithi. Dr. Kalanithi was a father, husband, son, brother, writer, and Stanford University neurosurgeon. At the end of a grueling six year neurosurgery residency, Dr. Kalanithi began to experience excruciating back pain, exhaustion during eight hour surgeries, and a persistent cough. As a physician, he knew these classic symptoms, went to the doctor, and shortly thereafter was diagnosed with terminal, metastatic lung cancer. Dr. Kalanithi was always a lover of literature and had envisioned himself spending his golden years writing memoirs about his experiences in medicine. Nearing the end of his life, he chose to write the book "When Breath Becomes Air," left as an unfinished word document on his laptop at the time of his death. His wife, fellow physician Lucy Kalanithi, shepherded his book through to publication. The book documents his diagnosis, his relationship with his wife and family, the completion of a surgical residency, and the birth of his young daughter, to whom the book is dedicated. The book is an incredible and emotional journey for any reader, regardless of experiences with cancer, untimely death, parenthood, marriage, or profession. Reading this book will help you get to know a brilliantly gifted man with an unshakeable vision of performing life-saving brain surgery. Paul knew death and suffering even before he stared it in the face himself. In a profound moment, the moment I finished reading the book, my two year old daughter walked in my room, wanting to show me something. In the state I was in upon completing the book, it took every ounce of my own willpower to not burst completely into tears at the sight of her. Thinking about Paul's story, his 8-month old daughter, and my own family, it made me realize that if I live to my daughter's fifth birthday or her fiftieth birthday, I need to cherish family for everything it's worth. |
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