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Summary: Julia's Mother: Life Lessons in the Pediatric ER
Review: A poignant, and sometimes humorous book, this gives the reader insights on not only the special bond between parent and child, but also the tremendous personal impact on the emergency medical caregiver. I found myself crying at points, and sharing a good laugh at others. The author clearly presents himself as a sensitive, caring pediatric ER physician. This book reminded me of the intense feelings conveyed in "Tuesday's With Maury".
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Summary: A wonderful book, but one that is way too short.
Review: After reading an article about William Bonadio's book, "Julia's Mother" in my local newspaper I knew I had to read it. Too many books are written about hospital experiences and stories of tragedy in the ER. This book was amazing! The stories Bonadio told were so incredibly touching it really makes you think about your own life. Too much do we think of doctors as those people on "the other side of the fence," that don't really know what we are feeling. Bonadio proves to us that yes, doctors do feel too. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!
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Summary: Heartfelt lessons from doctor to patient.
Review: After reading an article about William Bonadio's book, "Julia's Mother" in my local newspaper I knew I had to read it. Too many books are written about hospital experiences and stories of tragedy in the ER. This book was amazing! The stories Bonadio told were so incredibly touching it really makes you think about your own life. Too much do we think of doctors as those people on "the other side of the fence," that don't really know what we are feeling. Bonadio proves to us that yes, doctors do feel too. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!
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Summary: Informative, Touching, Sensitive
Review: An amazing collection of stories from a children's emergency room. Bonadio allows reader to see not only the gripping details of events but also his feelings about his patients and his work. Doctors are not often this forthcoming. I was especially taken with his awarness of the impression he was giving to anxious parents with his body language and facial expression as he worked over their stricken baby, deeply moved by his search for words to tell Julia's mother that her child had died.I read this as part of a research project, but wholeheartedly believe that this book would be fascinating to any reader. Bonadio's skill as a writer is phenomenal. I hope he writes other books, even novels, in the future. My guess is that he will.
Rating:
Summary: Informative, Touching, Sensitive
Review: An amazing collection of stories from a children's emergency room. Bonadio allows reader to see not only the gripping details of events but also his feelings about his patients and his work. Doctors are not often this forthcoming. I was especially taken with his awarness of the impression he was giving to anxious parents with his body language and facial expression as he worked over their stricken baby, deeply moved by his search for words to tell Julia's mother that her child had died. I read this as part of a research project, but wholeheartedly believe that this book would be fascinating to any reader. Bonadio's skill as a writer is phenomenal. I hope he writes other books, even novels, in the future. My guess is that he will.
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Summary: A wonderful book, but one that is way too short.
Review: Dr. Bonadio shares pieces of his medical career and of lessons he has learned. It was fascinating to learn of his medical school career and of all the insecurities a doctor-to-be would have. The lessons he learned from his patients and their families are invaluable. His compassion is heart rendering. My only complaint is that the book was too short. I really wanted to know Dr. Bonadio and his life better. Will there be a sequel?
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Summary: Enjoyable
Review: Frequently ER workers become cynical with time. We tend to forget the human behind the condition. Dr. Bonadio's work pulled the human forward. It also gave us a glimpse behind the competent (and sometimes arrogant) physician persona. A well done first work and an enjoyable quick read.
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Summary: kirkus reviews for Julias Mother
Review: From Kirkus Reviews Real life can't get more compelling orshattering than in a pediatric emergency room, and Bonadio's quiet,straight-forward style makes the daily drama clear. An emergency-medicine physician at the Children's Hospital of St. Paul, Minnesota, Bonadio wonders daily at the privilege of parenting -- the chance "To go beyond our mortal, flawed, and otherwise insignificant lives, to touch a hand on something infinite." He is also staggered by its power: "There is no force in all creation more powerful or compelling or inspiring than a mother urging the needs of her child." The death of a 6-year old hit by a car, a pregnant adolescent who attempts suicide, a toddler who nearly drowns - all of these tragedies are starting points for Bonadio's musings on life and its lessons. A riveting account. -April 15, 2000
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Summary: other print reviews which occurred for "Julia's Mother"
Review: From Publisher's Weekly - These artfully written, real-lifenarratives about what goes on in a pediatric emergency room detail onedoctor's devotion to medicine and patient care. The eponymous episode concerns the death of six-year-old Julia, from injuries she sustained in a traffic accident. A year after Julia's death, her mother contacted Bonadio to ask if he knew whether she had actually arrived at the ER before the moment of her daughter's death--i.e., had her daughter died alone? Bonadio (a doctor at the Children's Hospital of St. Paul, Minn.) poignantly describes groping for words to reassure the grieving parent that her bond with Julia had not been broken by her death. It's this sort of humane medicine, learned anew each day, that the author recounts here--a process informed by his conviction that "parents know certain things about their children in a way the doctor can never know." He convincingly explains that even the most competent doctors can misread an X-ray or make other mistakes because of the exhaustion that comes at the end of an emergency room shift. (After reading the X-rays of one child who was sent home by another ER physician, he remembers, he found a fracture in her second vertebral bone. Fortunately, he reached the family and had the child immobilized and taken back to the hospital before further damage was done.) Bonadio also details the exercise and diet routines that he follows before the beginning of an overnight ER shift and the agonizing process of deciding when to abandon a resuscitation effort on a critically ill child. This is a deeply moving memoir by a physician who clearly loves his work. (Apr.) From Library Journal Emergency-room dramas on the small screen rivet our attention. In real life, the stories don't wrap up as neatly as they do in the 60 minutes known in trauma circles as the golden hour. Part memoir, part testimonial, this slim volume engages us in the professional and personal growth of a pediatric emergency-room physician. Proceeding from nervous student dissecting his first cadaver to experienced practitioner, Bonadio shares with readers his anxieties and awe as he treats his young patients and their families. Memorable vignettes of exhaustive resuscitation attempts--some successful, others tragically not--will make readers feel as if they themselves are alongside the staff in the curtained cubicles, willing each child to live. The story that begins and ends the book--that of Julia and her mother--is not only moving but serves as a kind of epiphany for the author. A poetically written addition for larger health or true-medicine collections.--Anne C. Tomlin, Auburn Memorial Hosp. Lib., NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
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Summary: A must read for anyone who care for children
Review: From The Palm Beach Post Dr. Bonadio's book wheels us down the polished white linoleum hospital floors and leaves us in the florescent theater of life in the pediatric ER. From this stage he delivers ten piercing chapters on lives saved, on lives lost. Because children are the subject, it is hard not to close this book without a shudder, or a sigh, hard not to feel the deep luck of a simple day lived in good health. The ER setting serves as a crucible for Bonadio's clean prose and clear thoughts. His sentences are terse, sometimes truncated, pared down to their simplest elements. Bonadio handles the stethoscope and pen with equal finesse. Julias Mother is an astonishing achievement. His thoughts and chapters swing open like emergency room doors. All of Bonadio's stories captivate, from a pregnant teen's suicide attempt to a parent trying to deal with the grief of their drowned boy being futilely resuscitated. Bonadio clearly leaves the reader to understand there is more to medicine than pathologists labeling pickled parts. Inside the tissue and bone, is a soul. It is the doctor's job to help the souls stay in their delicate vessels-Spencer Reece, The Palm Beach Post, FL, copyright May 2000
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