What Really Matters chronicles the life transformations experienced by Dr. Karen Wyatt and her patients and their family members during hospice care. This book of beautiful and uplifting stories about the lessons learned from the dying is also a guidebook for those who are feeling lost or hopeless about their lives in this contemporary world. What Really Matters reveals how the confusing maze of the suffering and pain at the time of death can lead to the ultimate destination of meaning, purpose, and growth for both the dying and the living. Read this book-it has the power to change the way you see everything about:. the meaning of suffering. recognizing life's priorities. letting go of limiting beliefs and past traumas. the true purpose of existence. the key to unlocking the flow of grace. transcending fear
Karen M. Wyatt, MD is a family physician who has spent her 25 year medical career working with patients in challenging settings, such as hospices, nursing homes and indigent clinics. She has founded a free medical clinic in a homeless shelter, accompanied three medical mission teams to Honduras, and led a non-profit clinic for the uninsured in its growth from a 4-hour per week all-volunteer operation to a full-time, full-service medical center. Motivated by her compassionate heart she has put her spiritual beliefs into action by being of service to others in need and by developing "Creative Healing," an initiative to integrate spirituality into traditional medical practice. She has twice testified at Senate briefings on the cutting edge model of integrated medical care, combining physical and behavioral health, which she helped create and implement in her clinic for the uninsured.
In addition to her devotion for helping others, Dr. Wyatt has had a passion for writing since she was a child. At the age of 10 she wrote a 3-act play that was later produced and performed by her 4th grade class as a school project. From that point on she expressed her love of words by writing poetry, plays, short stories, essays, songs and screenplays as a hobby. During medical school she helped organize a group of students into "The Not Ready for Exam-Time Players" who wrote and performed skits and song parodies to entertain the school's entire medical community.
Applying her writing skills to medical topics, Dr. Wyatt has written two books: "What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying," based on her experiences caring for hospice patients; and "A Matter of Life & Death: Stories to Heal Loss & Grief," which centers around her own experiences recovering from grief.
Dr. Wyatt received the Spirit of the American Woman Award in1996, was named one of Utah's 100 Notable Women in that same year, and in 2005 was a recipient of the Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award for Summit County, Colorado.
