Customer Reviews

Walk on Water: The Miracle of Saving Children's Lives

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A real fan of Ruhlman's previous books, I knew that this would make for good reading. Squeemish at times for those of us not use to inside O.R. environments with all the procedures and organs being talked about, this rivets one to pediatric heart surgery.

Fashioned around a premier surgeon at a leading hospital, the reader is taken on a whirlwind of living on the edge of technology and skill and emotions as heart defects are diagnosed during pregnancy while others found at birth and thereafter are the daily routine of this top notch surgical team which Ruhlman lived with and writes about.

One is touched by the intensity of the whole enterprise, the stark reality of it all, day after day, year after year. The enormity of it all. Patching this, switching that, shunting here, stiching this together---all to keep young precious life.

The history of the discipline and current happenings are reviewed, with its emphasis on comparative mortality stats for various surgical procedures. Scary to think one's future might well be determined by where one lives and where taken when heart defects occur.

The precision and dedication of those who live in this arena is beyond most of our scopes to even begin to fathom, but this book seems to take one there in spirit and interest. The compassionate care looms ever large.

Thoughtful, provocative and reflective view of speciality surgery at the leading edge and all the while on edge.

Dr. Mee has operated on our daughter two times now and a third operation (and possible transplant) is in her future. I will tell you that the Cleveland Clinic was not our first choice, however, I am greatful that Dr. Mee ended up being our daughter's surgeon in the end. I was not shocked by what I read because I have been in the care of everyone mentioned in the book. What I would have liked to read were more personal stories and less technical stuff. Although, personal stories was not what the book was intended for so I don't fault the author at all. As it turns out, our second opinion at the Clinic included a "sit in" by this author... who knows, maybe our story would have been told. At the time, however, we decided to stay with University Hospitals. Little did we know that their then surgeon would quit right before our little Sophia was to be operated on (she was the next case!)

Read the book, if you are not a parent of a CHD child, you won't appreciate it as much. If you are expecting a CHD child in your life, the book will scare the hell out of you until your first trip down that long hallway to the O.R. Once you have walked your child to surgery... you no longer have a sense of fear for anything as their is no greater fear.

Laura in Cleveland

This book by Michael Ruhlman detailing the day to day work at Cleveland Children's Hospital is one of the best medical narritives that I've read. On par with "The Healing Blade" or "When the Air Hits Your Brain".

Michael does a masterful job of telling both the technical/medical side of the story as well as the deeply human side of the patients and families throughout the book.

Given my background (EMT) and my wife's (CardioVascular ICU RN in Milwaukee) we both agree that the facts are correct and showed a balanced view of the topic. Many times books of this type show only "glowing successes" rather here reality is shown in that not everyone gets better like on TV and lives happily ever after.

Lastly, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Mee's Coordinator Deb Gilchrist at Ceveland Cinic shortly after finishing the book and she did bring up one point, the language was commented on by one reader and former patient as being too "rough". While I agree that the language is at times quite frank, the reality of the world is that these are real people and real life somtimes isn't neat and clean as we would like it to be. I don't see this as a reason to NOT read the book, however parents might want to be aware of this if children might be reading it.

ALl in all and excellent work and definately 5 stars.

Imagine opening a newborn baby's chest and holding his plum-sized heart in your hands, confident that you can repair it and give the child a healthy life.

Meet Dr. Roger Mee, one of the world's top pediatric heart surgeons. Dr. Mee and his team at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio do just that, two or three times a day, five or six days a week. Author Michael Ruhlman spent a year as an embedded observer in this center of excellence, exploring an elite surgical specialty and the professionals who devote themselves to perfecting it.

"Walk on Water: Inside an Elite Pediatric Surgical Unit" is the wonderful product of that year, and you won't find a more fascinating or inspiring story. Ruhlman gives us a satisfying mix of history, anatomy, biography, and personal interest.

The unit specializes in the repair of congenital heart defects. Each chapter starts with a case or an individual, suffering from or exemplifying some condition. Then the author catalogues the development of treatment options for that condition. Finally, he returns to the clinical setting to finish the story.

Ruhlman discusses medical politics and the story behind outcome statistics. What is the impact on a unit's statistics when that unit is a referral center for the sickest babies? How can a patient -- or a parent -- know the importance of the BEST care versus GOOD care? Thorny questions are raised.

But this is first and foremost the story of New Zealand-born Dr. Mee and his team, and the huge demands they make on themselves every day for the sake of these babies who got an unlucky draw -- at least, unlucky until they come under Dr. Mee's care.

"Walk on Water" is action-packed and sensitively written. If you are interested in medical non-fiction, you WILL be stunned by this book. It's a completely absorbing read and I highly recommend it.

Linda Bulger, 2008

Michael Ruhlman digs deep into the very elite field of pediatric surgery, arguably the most difficult and challenging aspect of medicine. Centered around Dr. Roger Mee, one of the best pediatric surgeons in the world who has been lauded as a doctor who "can walk on water" and "has the hands of God", Ruhlman brings you an inside look into this very specialized and unknown field (for those who are fortunate enough). This book takes you seamlessly from beginning to end, touching on the doctors' lives, the physician assistants, the lives of the parents, the history of heart surgery, and an in depth description of the cardio physiology and surgical procedures. The pathology of some heart defects could easily get confusing, but Ruhlman does a great job describing the situation and breaking it down for the reader. The sheer detail of the surgical procedures described in this book is enough to amaze everyone. Anyone interested in how doctors save babies by performing open heart surgery on walnut sized deformed hearts using millimeter precision against the clock should read this book.

I handed over my own child at 3 days old to a cardiothoracic surgeon for open heart surgery. I thought that my heart would break. I found as I read this book that the dreadful chill down my spine returned time and time again as I read about the surgeons, parents and children of this book. This book is intriguing if you don't have any experience with CHD, its particularly gripping if you do. Two themes have come up in these reviews repetition and bad language
In terms of repitition it seems that those who objected to the author's explanatory tone are missing the fact that many of us readers may not be medically educated or thankfully not be in the halls of PICU and know that its pronounced PICK U. To fully engross the reader the author needs to have the reader fully equipped to jump into the environment for full enjoyment
Secondly the language is graphic, this is life or death work, we swore more in the restaurant business and it was just french fries for G**ds sake!!!! If it were left out I think it would be less real
I would highly recommend this book for all readers, heart families or not. Its tremendously researched and written. My little boy is 13 healthy months old as a result of the arterial switch described in the first 20 pages. That surgeon could swear every second word for all I care :) !!!!!

I found the book an exciting read and helpful even for me, a practicing pediatric intensivist. I can't wait to read it again and underline some thoughts. I can not emphasize enough how helpful this book is for someone interested in medicine and health care delivery in this country. If you ever wonder whether it is worthwhile for our society to compensate doctors so well (although I can guarantee that Dr. Mee is not even in the same ballpark as a Roger Clemens or a Jason Kidd when it comes to salary) and for healthcare to cost so much this book will give you a reality check. If you ever wonder why we need to keep the predatory lawyers in check so that surgeons like Dr. Mee can continue to practice their craft, this book will give you a reality check. Wake up America, we are not making cupcakes around here. We are delivering the best health care in the world!

I thought this book was amazing. My husband was born with transposition of the greater vessels in the late 1960s when the kind of medical knowledge described in this book was very limited. I can see now how lucky he is to be with me still. I live in the Cleveland area and thought it was quite interesting to read about the differences in knowledge and experience among the hospitals here.
I do not work in medicine or anything of the like and I have never read any medical books like this ever, but I found Mr. Ruhlman's descriptions and explanations understandable. Some medical items were certainly over my head, but it was still a fascinating read and I would highly recommend it.

I love to read medical non-fiction, and have read Danielle Ofri, Tilda Shalof, Atul Gawande, and about fifteen other authors who have written about their own journey as a medical student, resident, doctor, surgeon, or nurse. The time I spent as a teen in the hospital for a lung problem left me with a strong desire to understand how hospitals work and how people in the medical field think.

This book's strength and weakness are, strangely, the same thing. Most medical non-fiction that I have read focuses on a variety of procedures, situations, and settings, even when it focuses on one surgeon or doctor. This book focused exclusively on congenital heart defects, so over and over again they described similar surgeries - heart surgery on newborns or older babies. This is wonderful if you are wanting in-depth information on congenital heart defects and how they are treated surgically, but as a casual reader, I got bored of having the same surgical staff, the same kind of operation, the same hospital.

That said, Ruhlman's writing is excellent. I found the level of technical detail perfect for my needs, really enjoyed the historical background info he gave on congenital heart surgery, and got a lot out of learning about Roger Mees and his surgical staff.

But the question is, with all of the generally interesting medical non-fiction out there right now, is this book your best choice among all of the competing books on similar topics?

If you have a particular interest in congenital heart defects, then this is an amazing book. It even gives tips at the end about getting the best care you can for your child with congenital heart disease. The writing is accessible and interesting, and is very focused. I didn't notice the swearing, myself.

But if, like me, your interest is more general, then maybe read a few other books first, like Complications by Gawande, On Call by Transue, A Nurse's Story by Shalof, Singular Intimacies by Ofri, or Baby ER by Humes, and see if your interest leads you in this direction.

This book not only gave information that was very important to know about making decisions on the care of my OWN child, but hope. It also gave me a better understanding of the heart & how it function with or without the proper set up. I was so very glad I read this book.

I was a little shocked at the profanity, but other than that the book was great. I truly felt like I was re-living a year ago. They hit the nail on the head, so to speak. If you want a better understanding of the heart in a newborn, this is the book for you. It will make you cry, but also give hope. Millions of us parents have gone down this road & had to fight for our children. What a great book....thanks