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Manheimer intends more than 12 sharp little medical biographies. He uses each case as a springboard from an ailing individual to greater social ills. While these digressions are intended to edify, Manheimer’s impassioned asides lose urgency with unnecessary repetition. Sako, W.; Morigaki, R.; Mizobuchi, Y.; Tsuzuki, T.; Ima, H.; Ushio, Y.; Nagahiro, S.; Kaji, R.; Goto, S. Bilateral pallidal deep brain stimulation in primary Meige syndrome. Park. Relat. Disord. 2011, 17, 123–125. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef] [ PubMed]
Alterman, R.L.; Miravite, J.; Weisz, D.; Shils, J.L.; Bressman, S.B.; Tagliati, M. Sixty hertz pallidal deep brain stimulation for primary torsion dystonia. Neurology 2007, 69, 681–688. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef] Sako, W.; Goto, S.; Shimazu, H.; Murase, N.; Matsuzaki, K.; Tamura, T.; Mure, H.; Tomogane, Y.; Arita, N.; Yoshikawa, H.; et al. Bilateral deep brain stimulation of the globus pallidus internus in tardive dystonia. Mov. Disord. 2008, 23, 1929–1931. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef] [ PubMed] For anyone seeking to understand medicine from the patient perspective, Twelve Patients is a must-read. Dr. Manheimer eloquently describes life and experiences inside a major public hospital in twenty-first century America. Particularly poignant are the stories that highlight the complex inter-relationship between the mind and the body and how our feelings and those of our patients dramatically affect medical outcomes." - Carol A. Bernstein, MD There are many moments within this book that are sad. Not every patient will make it out of the hospital, not every ending is happy. That is of course part of the point isn’t it? Not every ending in real life is happy either. There are going to be trials and up’s and downs and moments that cannot be overcome. It is how we choose to let those hard times, those somewhat impossible times define us that really makes things what they are, right? The Author for example, could have let his own illness overtake him, to give in to how hard his situation was and not fight. However, he chose to fight instead of give up and that can sometimes be more scary then just giving up. Believe me, I know.The next chapter is devoted to Tanisha, a young woman of tremendous inner strength. A lifelong foster child, she has been raped countless times, repeatedly running away from abusive families. Once, early in her life, she stayed briefly with a family who loved her. When the matriarch died, Tanisha was moved again. Manheimer sets off on a quest to find “Abuela’s” (Spanish for grandmother) extended family in the hopes that they not only recall Tanisha, but are willing to take her in. Incredibly, joyously, they remember her fondly, and despite their limited income, welcome her home. Captivating samplings of one doctor’s tour of duty inside the country’s oldest and perhaps most illustrious public hospital.
Andrews, C.; Aviles-Olmos, I.; Hariz, M.; Foltynie, T. Which patients with dystonia benefit from deep brain stimulation? A metaregression of individual patient outcomes. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2010, 81, 1383–1389. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef][ Green Version] While infamous for its mental hospital, Bellevue has long been more than a mental care facility. From its beginnings in 1763, Bellevue is the longest-running hospital in the United States. Its services are extensive, its facilities state-of-the-art. Manheimer is justifiably proud to work there. Although I share Manheimer’s views, I found Twelve Patients uneven reading. Manheimer is an excellent physician who genuinely cares not only for his patients, but for his staff, as well. His respect for everyone, from nurses to hospital cleaning personnel, is evident and welcome. But the self-congratulatory ego sneaking into the proceedings is not. Vidailhet, M.; Vercueil, L.; Houeto, J.-L.; Krystkowiak, P.; Benabid, A.-L.; Cornu, P.; Lagrange, C.; Du Montcel, S.T.; Dormont, D.; Grand, S.; et al. Bilateral Deep-Brain Stimulation of the Globus Pallidus in Primary Generalized Dystonia. N. Engl. J. Med. 2005, 352, 459–467. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef][ Green Version]
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The author is a doctor and was the head of the Bellevue Hospital in New York City for 14 years, I believe. This book dedicates a chapter each to one patient. One chapter focused on himself and his own bout with cancer. Each of the twelve stories told in this book is unique. This hospital receives inmates from Rikers Island, the prison just off shore of New York City, diplomats, both national and foreign, immigrants and the homeless from the streets of New York. These walls are the gathering place for the rich and the poor, the criminal and the insane, the lost and the everyday Joe. There is not a day that goes by that there are not problems. Problems to be solved by the Medical Director. Ostrem, J.L.; Starr, P.A. Treatment of dystonia with deep brain stimulation. Neurotherapeutics 2008, 5, 320–330. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef] [ PubMed] I call shenanigans. This is the stuff you see in television shows, and it seems fairly apparent to me that an eventual screen adaptation was precisely what Manheimer was aiming at. Which he did, and congratulations. But the book is a little too full of these "amazing!" coincidences, and poorly written on top of it.
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