You Can Stop Humming Now, Daniela Lamas
You Can Stop Humming Now, Daniela Lamas
6 Rating(s)
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You Can Stop Humming Now
A Doctor's Stories of Life, Death, and in Between

Author: Daniela Lamas

Narrator: Daniela Lamas, Susannah Jones

Unabridged: 6 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/27/2018

Synopsis

For readers of Atul Gawande and Jerome Groopman, a book of beautifully crafted stories about what life is like for patients kept alive by modern medical technology.

Modern medicine is a world that glimmers with new technology and cutting-edge research. To the public eye, medical stories often begin with sirens and flashing lights and culminate in survival or death. But these are only the most visible narratives. As a critical care doctor treating people at their sickest, Daniela Lamas is fascinated by a different story: what comes after for those whose lives are extended by days, months, or years as a result of our treatments and technologies?

You Can Stop Humming Now, Lamas explores the complex answers to this question through intimate accounts of patients and their families. A grandfather whose failing heart has been replaced by a battery-operated pump; a salesman who found himself a kidney donor on social media; a college student who survived a near fatal overdose and returned home, alive but not the same; and a young woman navigating an adulthood she never thought she'd live to see -- these moving narratives paint a detailed picture of the fragile border between sickness and health.

Riveting, gorgeously told, and deeply personal, You Can Stop Humming Now is a compassionate, uncompromising look at the choices and realities that many of us, and our families, may one day face.

"Gripping, soaring, inspiring."-Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sara on March 03, 2018

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You Can Stop Humming Now is a non fiction memoir of sorts that takes us through the wonders of modern medicine by examining various patients past and patient under the care of Daniela Lamas. Rather than baffle you with science and fact......more

Goodreads review by Jim on August 21, 2020

Lamas starts off with telling us "I became the resident who didn’t let anyone die." A seemingly laudable goal, but she never looked beyond that moment. These are stories of what comes after extreme life saving measures are taken. The stories start out pretty gloomy, but get more hopeful as the book......more

Goodreads review by Gem ~ZeroShelfControl~ on January 30, 2023

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings. Overall Rating: 4* Writing : 5* Information : 4* Uniqueness : 4* This was a great medical memoir. Each chapter focused on an individual medical technology......more

Goodreads review by Susannah on March 22, 2018

A compassionate look at medical care from a clinician’s perspective. Dr. Lamas is a gifted writer in addition to being a sympathetic healer. This book should be required reading for every doctor in training. Truly gorgeous reading.......more

Goodreads review by Meg on April 28, 2018

As the patient with CF, I loved how she brought to life many of my experiences. She clearly captured all the joy, struggles, and fun in my life. I am grateful to be part of this book, and sincerely appreciate all the work she has done to bring awareness to Cystic Fibrosis.......more

Quotes

"Daniela Lamas is the real thing. Her voice is wry, compassionate, sometimes doctorly, and sometimes not. And she's written a gripping, soaring, inspiring book about the sickest people on the planet. It's an important story too -- about not only death, but also survival. Read it. You'll see things you've never seen. You'll be moved. And you'll discover a voice you want to hear more from."—Atul Gawande, author of the international bestseller Being Mortal

"Critical illness is a matter life and death. Or is it? This is a book about medicine at the margins. Daniela Lamas explores liminal conditions of life hanging in the balance between life worth living and fates worse than death. You Can Stop Humming Now is participatory journalism at its best, a compelling investigation of chronic critical illness that will spark a national conversation about the plight of ICU survivors."—Ira Byock, MD, author of Dying Well and The Best Care Possible

"Dazzling... [Lamas] effortlessly captures the rhythm and mayhem of modern medicine... Warmth and humanity radiate from every page.....The patients in this book have something important to say, and so does the author. We should all be listening."—USA Today

"Exceptionally humane and well-crafted essays."—Harvard Magazine

"In the early years of her practice, Lamas learns the hard way that medicine requires as much heart as science. Her empathetic, beautifully crafted accounts from inside the ICU recall the work of Atul Gawande."—Hamilton Cain, Oprah.com

"Heart-rending and inspiring"
—Kirkus (Starred Review)

"This thoughtful, reflective, and beautifully rendered book examines the costs of modern medicine. Readers who enjoy books by Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawande, or Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air will find this volume moving and provocative."—Library Journal (Starred Review)

"Medicine's miracles are everywhere to behold. But what about the day after? Lamas explores a world that few have ever contemplated -- how we live after the dramatic save by the technological prowess of modern medicine. This eye-opening book reveals the gains and the costs -- both to the body and to the spirit -- of altering nature's predestined course. In turns anguishing, gripping, and hopeful, You Can Stop Humming Now is a must-read for anyone contemplating what medicine holds in store for us."—Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, author of What Patients Say, What Doctors Feel

"This is a rare and wonderful book, filled with insight, warmth, and a deep humanity that hits us with real emotion rather than sentimentality. If Daniela Lamas is as good a doctor as she is a writer, her patients are very lucky indeed."—Jeff Lindsay, author of the Dexter series

"Daniela Lamas writes with grace and compassion about her patients who survive, but do not quite escape, critical illness. Her wonderful book is an essential addition to the debate over how hard medicine should push to keep people alive. I highly recommend it for doctors, patients, or anyone interested in the knotty issues affecting medicine today."—Sandeep Jauhar, author of Intern and Doctored

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