Cheating Death / Review & Giveaway

An unborn baby with a fatal heart defect . . . a skier submerged for an hour in a frozen Norwegian lake . . . a comatose brain surgery patient whom doctors have declared a “vegetable.”

Twenty years ago all of them would have been given up for dead, with no realistic hope for survival. But today, thanks to incredible new medical advances, each of these individuals is alive and well . . .Cheating Death.

In this riveting book, Dr. Sanjay Gupta-neurosurgeon, chief medical correspondent for CNN, and bestselling author-chronicles the almost unbelievable science that has made these seemingly miraculous recoveries possible. A bold new breed of doctors has achieved amazing rescues by refusing to accept that any life is irretrievably lost. Extended cardiac arrest, “brain death,” not breathing for over an hour-all these conditions used to be considered inevitably fatal, but they no longer are. Today, revolutionary advances are blurring the traditional line between life and death in fascinating ways.

Drawing on real-life stories and using his unprecedented access to the latest medical research, Dr. Gupta dramatically presents exciting accounts of how pioneering physicians and researchers are altering our understanding of how the human body functions when it comes to survival-and why more and more patients who once would have died are now alive. From experiments with therapeutic hypothermia to save comatose stroke or heart attack victims to lifesaving operations in utero to the study of animal hibernation to help wounded soldiers on far-off battlefields, these remarkable case histories transform and enrich all our assumptions about the true nature of death and life.

I usually write short reviews, because I feel like the information from the publishers, pretty much says it all.  But not today. I have a vested interest in cheating death – and at this moment I’m not referring to the title of the book (you’ll read why in just a moment). Riveting is a total understatement.  This book is one of the best non fictions, that I’ve ever laid my hands on! After reading Cheating Death, I want to have Therapeutic Hypothermia and CCR (Cardio Compression only Resuscitation) tattooed on my forehead.

This book is filled with true life situations, explanations of medical practices, reasons why (and some of these make me furious), Therapeutic Hypothermia and CCR aren’t standard techniques used for all heart attack victimes, and how Therapeutic Hypothemia can be used to treat a number of other medical conditions.

*I have been interested in near death experiences for the past 19 years.  About a week after my youngest daughter was born, I suffered a major hemmharage, and I was barely hanging on by the time that the paramedics arrived. I passed out as soon as they lifted me up out of my bed. I was placed in a pressure suit, given oxygen, and pumped full of fluids.  At one point, as they were working on me, in the hallway outside of my bedroom door…  People – I SAW THE LIGHT!   Seriously.  I was surrounded by bright light, and I felt the most wonderful sense of warmth and peace…and then, as if from a distance…I heard someone calling my name.  Over and over and over again.  I wanted so much for whoever it was, to go away and leave me alone.  Finally I decided to answer them, so that I could enjoy the wonderful feeling of total serenity.  I opened my eyes, and saw a big guy was leaning over me saying ” Libby, keep your eyes open…stay with me.” I, in a croaky voice,  eloquently said – and pardon my French – “Oh shit, I thought I was dreaming!”.  He then replied, “Honey, you’re not just having any old dream.  You’re having a nightmare!”

I was later told, by a friend, that my husband was advised that the best thing that he could do, would be to stay home and comfort our kids (and we had 9 at the time, from 16 years old  to our 1 week old baby girl), because my chances of making it, where slim.   If I did survive, they expected me to be severely brain damaged.  HAH! I fooled them. I’m just marginally brain damaged. LOL!  I did lose most of my memories, prior to the incident, and continue to have short term memory lapses. (That’s one of the reasons why I worry about keeping up with this particular blog – you all know that I’m always messing something up :-)*

Okay…back to the book.  Dr. Gupta writes in an easy to read, and understand, style.  He does a great job explaining the technical medical jargon.  He gives a balanced accounting of why Therapeutic Hypothermia and CCR needs to become standard practice for a number of medical emergencies, and why these practices haven’t spread like wildfire.  This book is an easy read, and I enjoyed every minute that I spent with it.

#1 Thank you Heavenly Father, for sending me skilled and dedicated paramedics, without whom I would not be here today.

#2 Thank you, my dear husband, for your fervrent prayers.  I know that they were instrumental in saving my life and allowing me to be able to function as a normal (all right all ready – maybe normal is stretching the truth just a little) person.

#3  The bio above just doesn’t cut it, as far a Dr. Gupta goes, so here is more information that I have found about this incredible man. (If you have to…go ahead and scroll down to enter for the chance to win a copy…but then come back here, and read more about this incredible doctor!)

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is chief medical correspondent for the health and medical unit at CNN. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon
(*****and I’m adding this – the man is some kinda EYE CANDY!****) and an assistant professor of neurosurgery, plays an integral role in the network’s medical coverage, which includes lead reporting on breaking medical news, regular health and medical updates for American Morning, anchoring the half-hour weekend medical affairs program House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and reporting for CNN documentaries.

Based in Atlanta, Gupta also contributes health news stories to CNN.com and CNNHealth.com, co-hosts “Accent Health” for Turner Private Networks, provides medical segments for the syndicated version of ER on TNT, writes a column for TIME magazine, anchors the global health program Vital Signs for CNN International and is featured in a weekly podcast on health issues called “Paging Dr. Gupta.”

Gupta joined CNN in the summer of 2001 and became part of the network team covering the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City and led breaking news reporting on the anthrax attacks later that year.

In 2003, Gupta reported from Iraq and Kuwait as an embedded correspondent with the U.S. Navy’s medical unit, the “Devil Docs.” He provided viewers with exclusive reports from points along the unit’s travel to Baghdad and provided live coverage from a desert operating room of the first operation performed during the war and also performed brain surgery five times himself. Besides his battlefield medicine coverage, Gupta also reported from Kuwait immediately after a low-flying missile hit a Kuwaiti shopping mall.

In 2004, Gupta traveled to the international AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where he reported on the pandemic for CNN. In December 2004, he was sent to Sri Lanka to cover the disaster and aftermath of the tsunami that took more than 155,000 lives in South Asia. That coverage contributed to the awarding of an Alfred I. duPont Award to CNN.

The following year, Gupta contributed to CNN’s Peabody Award-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. In addition to his other reporting in New Orleans, Gupta broke the news that official reports that New Orleans’ Charity Hospital had been completely evacuated were incorrect, revealing that more than 200 patients remained there for five days after the hurricane made landfall.

Gupta’s passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives also led him to launch “New You Resolution” and later “Fit Nation,” CNN’s multi-platform grassroots initiatives against obesity. Two nationwide “Fit Nation” tours have culminated in special long-form programs that revealed the hazards of obesity in children, “Fat Chance,” and the challenges in eating healthy in a culture and regulatory environment that makes processed food so prevalent in the American diet, “Danger: Poisoned Food.”

Other documentaries have included “Quake Zone,” “Killer Flu,” “Sleep,” “Blood Spilled” and “Rescuing Youssif” which, respectively, addressed concerns about surviving the Pakistani earthquake, avian flu, the dangers of a lack of sleep, the challenges faced by wounded Iraqi veterans and the emotional and physical journey of the recovery of a young Iraqi boy, respectively.

During the 2008 presidential campaign year, Gupta reported extensively on the campaign, including the documentaries “First Patient” and “Fit to Lead” about the toll that the nation’s highest office takes on the health of the commander-in-chief and the health of the presidential candidates.

In addition to his work for CNN, Gupta is a member of the staff and faculty of the department of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and regularly performs surgery at Emory University Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital, where he serves as associate chief of neurosurgery.

Before joining CNN, Gupta was a fellow in neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee’s Semmes-Murphy clinic, and before that, the University of Michigan Medical Center. He became partner of the Great Lakes Brain and Spine Institute in 2000, and in 1997, he was chosen as a White House Fellow — one of only 15 fellows appointed. He served as special advisor to first lady Hillary Clinton.

Gupta has been published in a variety of scientific journals and has received numerous accolades. His health reports swept all three health and medical awards in 2006 – the first year the National Headliner Awards honored such journalism in a dedicated category. Also in 2006, his report, “Sabrina’s Law,” earned him his first Clarion award, and “Charity Hospital,” his first Emmy®. He is also a contributor to 60 Minutes and the Evening News with Katie Couric on CBS.

In 2003, he was named one of PEOPLE magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive” and a “pop culture icon” by USA Today. In 2004, the Atlanta Press Club named him “Journalist of the Year.” He has won the Humanitarian Award from the National Press Photographers Association, a GOLD Award from the National Health Care Communicators and the International Health and Medical Media award known as the “Freddie.” His first book, Chasing Life, was released in the spring of 2007 and became a national bestseller and was also the subject of a one-hour documentary of the same name on CNN.

A board-certified neurosurgeon, Gupta is a member of several organizations, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and the Council of Foreign Relations. He serves as a diplomat of the American Board of Neurosurgery and is a certified medical investigator. Gupta is also a board member of the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong Foundation.

Gupta received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a doctorate of medicine from the University of Michigan Medical Center.