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Brainstorm: A Memoir of Love, Devotion, and a Cerebral Aneurysm
Nine million Americans are touched by aneurysms during their lifetime. This is one story of love.
Brainstorm is the candid and powerful memoir of the author’s harrowing experience of an aneurysm and his road to recovery. It is a journey of love, devotion, and a clash of medical beliefs and countercultures. The fierce resolve of the author and his wife is extraordinary, inspiring, and matched only by the tremendous competence and care of the medical system—one to which the author initially stands in opposition, but that he later learns to admire and respect.
This book is for anyone who has experienced the fear and difficulties of a major illness. The themes, truths, and above all, the compassion that this book shares will be familiar not just to the nine million Americans affected by aneurysms, but to anyone whose family has been touched by a medical trauma. Filled with raw emotion, Brainstorm affords quiet but powerful support to those suffering similar circumstances and strives to tell them that they are not alone.
Brainstorm is the candid and powerful memoir of the author’s harrowing experience of an aneurysm and his road to recovery. It is a journey of love, devotion, and a clash of medical beliefs and countercultures. The fierce resolve of the author and his wife is extraordinary, inspiring, and matched only by the tremendous competence and care of the medical system—one to which the author initially stands in opposition, but that he later learns to admire and respect.
This book is for anyone who has experienced the fear and difficulties of a major illness. The themes, truths, and above all, the compassion that this book shares will be familiar not just to the nine million Americans affected by aneurysms, but to anyone whose family has been touched by a medical trauma. Filled with raw emotion, Brainstorm affords quiet but powerful support to those suffering similar circumstances and strives to tell them that they are not alone.
200 pages, Hardcover
First published February 3, 2015
9 people want to read
About the author
Robert Wintner
24 books16 followersRobert Wintner has authored 15 novels, 3 memoirs, 3 story collections and 5 reef photo books. Robert Wintner is the nom de plume of Snorkel Bob, Hawaii’s biggest reef outfitter. He lives on Maui with his wife Anita, Cookie the dog, Rocky, Yoyo, Inez, Buck, Tootsie, and Coco the cats, and Elizabeth the chicken. His novels and stories are adventures, meant to record and entertain with insight.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 17, 2015
This is a tricky one, because Robert Wintner is not very likable and he will be the first to tell you this throughout these pages. He is confrontational and argumentative in a sarcastic way, with everyone. He talks about screwing and tits which screams at my somewhat adult and feminist sensibilities. As I read his memoir, I literally cringe.
Now that I have that off my chest, or ample sized tits, as Robert would likely point out, there is some merit to his method(s). His wife suffers a brain aneurysm and after a quick medical exam by a friend is put through the medical melee we refer to as our healthcare system. This is after she has beat breast cancer through non-invasive treatment and the couple has committed to an informed and health conscious lifestyle.
This is where Robert Wintner is not some annoying guy but a husband who knows it is important to be your own health advocate and/or that of your loved one. He and his wife, Rachel object to being pushed through a life-threatening emergency to insist on information and options. How many of us do this when faced with seemingly all knowing health professionals? How many of us should?
The other important note of this narrative is knowing the signs of a brain aneurysm and what to do. Admittedly, Wintner, like many, thought his wife was drunk. His chronicle just may save someone’s life. And that makes it worth reading.
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Now that I have that off my chest, or ample sized tits, as Robert would likely point out, there is some merit to his method(s). His wife suffers a brain aneurysm and after a quick medical exam by a friend is put through the medical melee we refer to as our healthcare system. This is after she has beat breast cancer through non-invasive treatment and the couple has committed to an informed and health conscious lifestyle.
This is where Robert Wintner is not some annoying guy but a husband who knows it is important to be your own health advocate and/or that of your loved one. He and his wife, Rachel object to being pushed through a life-threatening emergency to insist on information and options. How many of us do this when faced with seemingly all knowing health professionals? How many of us should?
The other important note of this narrative is knowing the signs of a brain aneurysm and what to do. Admittedly, Wintner, like many, thought his wife was drunk. His chronicle just may save someone’s life. And that makes it worth reading.
Provided by ireads Book tours
November 13, 2015
I recorded my thoughts throughout the entire book, writing down what I thought at certain passages.
Page 8: So far I do not like the main character. I feel as if everything that comes out of his mouth is something about sex, and he's a very big pervert.
Page 16: "Rachel went from a hundred pounds to eighty seven." That fact that she started at a hundred pounds is concerning. That would be underweight for anyone except someone who's 4'9 and eleven years old.
Page 26: "You think a story has a beginning and an end, but it doesn't. How can we live happily ever after know we die at the end?"
Page 40: "I can't do this alone." I'm sorry, but your wife is the one with the cerebral hemorrhage...You can't just start crying and say that when your wife is the one who's fatally sick. It doesn't work like that, buddy.
Page 63: Though the story has improved, there are still parts where the narrator says, “I’m scared, or “I can’t do this alone,” and I don’t really think that’s fair. His wife is the one with extreme medical issues. I think he’d be better to spend his energy trying to talk to her about their options rather than freak her out or something.
Page 100: Just when I was starting to like the main character, he goes and urinates in a toilet display in a home improvement store. You seriously couldn’t have looked for a bathroom? Really?
Page 147: I’ve grown to feel kind of emotionless towards the characters. I sympathize with what’s happening to them, but I don’t feel any sort of connection to them. It’s very easy for me to feel an emotional bond with characters in books, but with this novel, I just didn’t feel a connection. There’s still a bit left, though, so I’ll see how I feel after that. Though I will admit, I do not like how the hospital staff treats the patients. It seems unfair for them to hide so much and give them the worst case scenarios at all times.
Okay, enough about what I thought while reading the book. These are my final thoughts, which I’m going to graciously share.
Though I had some trouble liking the main character, I thought this boko was brilliant. I did end up really liking Rachel in the end, because I feel as if she was very witty. The humor in this book was great, though very dry. It shows the pain and emotions better than a lot of books do.
It took me a while to get through, but I’m really glad I read it all. When I finished the book, I kind of sat back for a little bit like, “it’s over? Man, what am I gonna do now…?” It was one of those books. It was great, and the more I read, the more it captured my emotions. I really didn’t get that into the book until the last 30 pages, though when I got that far, I seemed to have grown accustomed to the characters.
Though I did not like the narrator, I did like Rachel. I did not like the doctors or the nurses or pretty much any other characters besides Rachel in the book besides the two dogs they have. I do feel as if the narrator had a lot of character developement, though.
Overall, I think it’s a great story that brought emotion together with medical drama, which ended in a grand flurry of an ending. Would I recommend it to other people? Yes, but only if you can stand disrespectful people. I cannot stand people who are rude and disrespectful, so I was constantly annoyed at nearly everyone in the book. No one seemed to care about anyone else. I think the husband was worried about his wife, who had developed a brain hemmorhage, and the hospital staff did not respect any of their wishes or grant them any privacy.
Though I was very critical of this book, I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. It was a beautiful story.
You can buy this book on Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/Brainstorm-Memo...
Or on Sky Horse Publishing : http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/boo...
Page 8: So far I do not like the main character. I feel as if everything that comes out of his mouth is something about sex, and he's a very big pervert.
Page 16: "Rachel went from a hundred pounds to eighty seven." That fact that she started at a hundred pounds is concerning. That would be underweight for anyone except someone who's 4'9 and eleven years old.
Page 26: "You think a story has a beginning and an end, but it doesn't. How can we live happily ever after know we die at the end?"
Page 40: "I can't do this alone." I'm sorry, but your wife is the one with the cerebral hemorrhage...You can't just start crying and say that when your wife is the one who's fatally sick. It doesn't work like that, buddy.
Page 63: Though the story has improved, there are still parts where the narrator says, “I’m scared, or “I can’t do this alone,” and I don’t really think that’s fair. His wife is the one with extreme medical issues. I think he’d be better to spend his energy trying to talk to her about their options rather than freak her out or something.
Page 100: Just when I was starting to like the main character, he goes and urinates in a toilet display in a home improvement store. You seriously couldn’t have looked for a bathroom? Really?
Page 147: I’ve grown to feel kind of emotionless towards the characters. I sympathize with what’s happening to them, but I don’t feel any sort of connection to them. It’s very easy for me to feel an emotional bond with characters in books, but with this novel, I just didn’t feel a connection. There’s still a bit left, though, so I’ll see how I feel after that. Though I will admit, I do not like how the hospital staff treats the patients. It seems unfair for them to hide so much and give them the worst case scenarios at all times.
Okay, enough about what I thought while reading the book. These are my final thoughts, which I’m going to graciously share.
Though I had some trouble liking the main character, I thought this boko was brilliant. I did end up really liking Rachel in the end, because I feel as if she was very witty. The humor in this book was great, though very dry. It shows the pain and emotions better than a lot of books do.
It took me a while to get through, but I’m really glad I read it all. When I finished the book, I kind of sat back for a little bit like, “it’s over? Man, what am I gonna do now…?” It was one of those books. It was great, and the more I read, the more it captured my emotions. I really didn’t get that into the book until the last 30 pages, though when I got that far, I seemed to have grown accustomed to the characters.
Though I did not like the narrator, I did like Rachel. I did not like the doctors or the nurses or pretty much any other characters besides Rachel in the book besides the two dogs they have. I do feel as if the narrator had a lot of character developement, though.
Overall, I think it’s a great story that brought emotion together with medical drama, which ended in a grand flurry of an ending. Would I recommend it to other people? Yes, but only if you can stand disrespectful people. I cannot stand people who are rude and disrespectful, so I was constantly annoyed at nearly everyone in the book. No one seemed to care about anyone else. I think the husband was worried about his wife, who had developed a brain hemmorhage, and the hospital staff did not respect any of their wishes or grant them any privacy.
Though I was very critical of this book, I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. It was a beautiful story.
You can buy this book on Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/Brainstorm-Memo...
Or on Sky Horse Publishing : http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/boo...
November 15, 2015
Brainstorm by Robert Wintner This is the memoir of Bob and Rachel and their real life experience with modern medicine (in the 1990s). In general, they work with nutrition, exercise, and alternative forms of medicine. While living in Hawaii, Rachel is diagnosed with breast cancer. She chooses to forgo the advice of her doctors and works with an alternative medicine specialist to treat the cancer. Years later, while the couple is living in Washington state, Rachel suffers a major aneurysm and faces the difficult decision of trusting modern medicine or seeking a different route.
The book started out with Bob and Rachel meeting and how they become a couple for the second half of their lives. I like that Rachel does a lot of animal rescue work and this continues no matter where she finds herself. In Hawaii, the two revel in nature and sea and lead relatively active lives. They also enjoy some self-medicating through drugs and alcohol. Alternative medicine and nutrition have kept them both out of doctors’ offices. Then Rachel is diagnosed with breast cancer. She elects to go with alternative medicine, which involved some native fruits and altering her body’s pH (to make her body inhospitable to the cancer cells) instead of radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or mastectomy. Rachel tells her survival story at breast cancer groups, where she stresses that each of the ladies is doing what they need to be doing for themselves (alternative or main stream medicine). I really liked that she didn’t pass judgement on folks going the modern medicine route. However, it did sound like she never had any follow up to confirm the cancer was gone, or wasn’t a false positive to begin with.
Skip ahead a few years and Bob and Rachel are living in Washington. Roughly 80% of this book was about Rachel’s brain aneurysm and the few days the two of them spent in a Seattle hospital. This is a word by word rehash of the bulk of the event and the pacing is very, very slow. There’s a lot of repetition and a lot of judgement and anger flying around. Rachel, for the most part, is awake and lucid during this event.
On one hand, Bob and Rachel demand respect for their preference for alternative medicine and want to be actively involved in any medical decisions. I totally support this as it is a positive message to be involved in medical decisions. However, they don’t offer much respect to the medical staff and their years of education, training, and experience. For example, one youngish doctor is referred to derisively as ‘Doogie Howser’ and another doctor, who was a little out of line, was repeatedly called the bad C word. Also, the couple didn’t seem to take into account how many aneurysms the hospital staff and doctors had seen and treated over the years, discounting their experience with an angry wave. At the time of the event, Rachel and Bob thought the hospital medical staff would be versed in alternative medical options for brain aneurysms and, quite frankly, that’s unrealistic. Medical science and knowledge is vast and people who have chosen to work in modern medicine can’t hold all the medical knowledge that entails, let alone possible alternative options (from the viable to the ridiculous).
So Bob gets on the phone and calls a dear friend and psychic. She can’t, or won’t, read Rachel’s future but she can get the number for a nationwide, respected alternative medicine foundation. Once Bob hears from the head of this foundation that there is no good alternative to modern medicine for treating brain aneurysms, he settles into the idea that surgery may very well be needed. Now he just has to tell his resistant wife. She was very focused on what would happen to her hair. This didn’t bother me much, as she was suffering a major aneurysm, was completely out of her normal surroundings, and may not have been 100% competent.
Bob and Rachel go through a lot of emotions during this time. It’s all pretty new to them and very foreign. Surgery is a big, scary thing for them. Indeed, every little bruise, needle mark, etc. seems to upset them. I know the description says this is a personal journey that left the author appreciative of the medical care his wife received, but there was very, very little of that in the book and totally reserved for the tail end when a follow up appointment clears Rachel to get back to her life, including the pot and alcohol and travel.
I applaud the honesty of the author in recalling this event. However, it was a bit tedious to give a listen to as it was so very negative and the pacing was extremely slow and repetitive. The ending wasn’t some big epiphany, so I was left wondering why the author took so much detail with the telling. Perhaps this was a cathartic process for him?
To be clear, I cuss often, including the occasional C word. I have a biology degree but have turned to both alternative medicine and modern medicine. Both have left me wanting or grateful at different moments in my life. On the surface, I thought this book would be a winner for me. However, that was sadly not the case.
I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost as part of the iReads Book Tour in exchange for an honest review.
The Narration: Jonathan Yen did a decent job with this book. It didn’t require many voices. However, he had a solid, skeptical voice for the author and pulled off a believable female voice for Rachel.
The book started out with Bob and Rachel meeting and how they become a couple for the second half of their lives. I like that Rachel does a lot of animal rescue work and this continues no matter where she finds herself. In Hawaii, the two revel in nature and sea and lead relatively active lives. They also enjoy some self-medicating through drugs and alcohol. Alternative medicine and nutrition have kept them both out of doctors’ offices. Then Rachel is diagnosed with breast cancer. She elects to go with alternative medicine, which involved some native fruits and altering her body’s pH (to make her body inhospitable to the cancer cells) instead of radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or mastectomy. Rachel tells her survival story at breast cancer groups, where she stresses that each of the ladies is doing what they need to be doing for themselves (alternative or main stream medicine). I really liked that she didn’t pass judgement on folks going the modern medicine route. However, it did sound like she never had any follow up to confirm the cancer was gone, or wasn’t a false positive to begin with.
Skip ahead a few years and Bob and Rachel are living in Washington. Roughly 80% of this book was about Rachel’s brain aneurysm and the few days the two of them spent in a Seattle hospital. This is a word by word rehash of the bulk of the event and the pacing is very, very slow. There’s a lot of repetition and a lot of judgement and anger flying around. Rachel, for the most part, is awake and lucid during this event.
On one hand, Bob and Rachel demand respect for their preference for alternative medicine and want to be actively involved in any medical decisions. I totally support this as it is a positive message to be involved in medical decisions. However, they don’t offer much respect to the medical staff and their years of education, training, and experience. For example, one youngish doctor is referred to derisively as ‘Doogie Howser’ and another doctor, who was a little out of line, was repeatedly called the bad C word. Also, the couple didn’t seem to take into account how many aneurysms the hospital staff and doctors had seen and treated over the years, discounting their experience with an angry wave. At the time of the event, Rachel and Bob thought the hospital medical staff would be versed in alternative medical options for brain aneurysms and, quite frankly, that’s unrealistic. Medical science and knowledge is vast and people who have chosen to work in modern medicine can’t hold all the medical knowledge that entails, let alone possible alternative options (from the viable to the ridiculous).
So Bob gets on the phone and calls a dear friend and psychic. She can’t, or won’t, read Rachel’s future but she can get the number for a nationwide, respected alternative medicine foundation. Once Bob hears from the head of this foundation that there is no good alternative to modern medicine for treating brain aneurysms, he settles into the idea that surgery may very well be needed. Now he just has to tell his resistant wife. She was very focused on what would happen to her hair. This didn’t bother me much, as she was suffering a major aneurysm, was completely out of her normal surroundings, and may not have been 100% competent.
Bob and Rachel go through a lot of emotions during this time. It’s all pretty new to them and very foreign. Surgery is a big, scary thing for them. Indeed, every little bruise, needle mark, etc. seems to upset them. I know the description says this is a personal journey that left the author appreciative of the medical care his wife received, but there was very, very little of that in the book and totally reserved for the tail end when a follow up appointment clears Rachel to get back to her life, including the pot and alcohol and travel.
I applaud the honesty of the author in recalling this event. However, it was a bit tedious to give a listen to as it was so very negative and the pacing was extremely slow and repetitive. The ending wasn’t some big epiphany, so I was left wondering why the author took so much detail with the telling. Perhaps this was a cathartic process for him?
To be clear, I cuss often, including the occasional C word. I have a biology degree but have turned to both alternative medicine and modern medicine. Both have left me wanting or grateful at different moments in my life. On the surface, I thought this book would be a winner for me. However, that was sadly not the case.
I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost as part of the iReads Book Tour in exchange for an honest review.
The Narration: Jonathan Yen did a decent job with this book. It didn’t require many voices. However, he had a solid, skeptical voice for the author and pulled off a believable female voice for Rachel.
December 29, 2015
I like to read memoirs from time to time, and when I do, I want them to be inspirational, compelling and to leave me with some feeling of having learned something meaningful. Brainstorm did all this and more. It touched me on so many levels. I was drawn in right from the first page, as the author recounts the experience he and his wife Rachel experienced when she suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.
But it's not just about a couple who is suddenly faced with a life-threatening situation. It's about the difficulty they encountered with the medical community that functions without dialogue in treatment, especially when it comes to understanding a patient's belief system, a fundamental step that should be, but is not recognized, as both a part of the treatment and the healing process. In other words, they decide what is best for you, without your consent, based on medical stats, the legal system and their experience.
I get it. Highly trained medical staff work hard to save lives, so thank goodness for brain, heart and orthopedic surgeons that can patch you together should you suffer a major car crash. But when it comes to giving a patient alternatives for treatment, the medical system is not trained to do this. It's only when persons like the Wintners speak up and refuse conventional treatment unless their questions are first answered and they fully understand what the treatment will do that the medical staff takes notice. But in the process they are labeled paranoid, uncooperative and ungrateful.
Robert and Rachel did not have support, and they fought to be heard. The memoir is written from Robert, or the husband's point of view, and his account is raw and honest. His writing is both poetic, cynical, humorous and above-all candid. He openly acknowledges his sense of helplessness, his pain in seeing his wife suffer, and the inappropriate actions brought on by his mental anguish and rebelliousness. I could only feel compassion and heartfelt understanding as I raced through this book, living these difficult moments with them.
I'm a staunch advocate of holistic and alternative medicine, my family having used homeopathy for years now rather than allopathic medicine. So I cheered this couple who practiced non-invasive treatments to fight illness, even cancer. I greatly admire the ground-breaking work of neurologist Norman Doidge, Barbara Arrowsmith Young and Dr. Gabor Maté, who have restored my belief in the power of the mind and body connection after I suffered from post-partum depression. Their work helped me find my way back to health and happiness without conventional drugs.
For all out there who are interested in bettering the medical community, who seek to be inspired to take control of their health or who are faced with a medical situation that requires significant medical intervention, this personal story will be eye-opening and touching. It took guts for the author to lay out a time in his life when he almost lost his wife. If the telling of his story can help others to take a better and a more courageous approach in shaking the medical community so that they listen, really listen to the patient, then it was a worthwhile endeavor for him, not just in the beauty of writing it but in the tour-de-force message it conveys.
Note: There are some f-words, religious profanity and some crude language. Some real life scenes and death potentials.
But it's not just about a couple who is suddenly faced with a life-threatening situation. It's about the difficulty they encountered with the medical community that functions without dialogue in treatment, especially when it comes to understanding a patient's belief system, a fundamental step that should be, but is not recognized, as both a part of the treatment and the healing process. In other words, they decide what is best for you, without your consent, based on medical stats, the legal system and their experience.
I get it. Highly trained medical staff work hard to save lives, so thank goodness for brain, heart and orthopedic surgeons that can patch you together should you suffer a major car crash. But when it comes to giving a patient alternatives for treatment, the medical system is not trained to do this. It's only when persons like the Wintners speak up and refuse conventional treatment unless their questions are first answered and they fully understand what the treatment will do that the medical staff takes notice. But in the process they are labeled paranoid, uncooperative and ungrateful.
Robert and Rachel did not have support, and they fought to be heard. The memoir is written from Robert, or the husband's point of view, and his account is raw and honest. His writing is both poetic, cynical, humorous and above-all candid. He openly acknowledges his sense of helplessness, his pain in seeing his wife suffer, and the inappropriate actions brought on by his mental anguish and rebelliousness. I could only feel compassion and heartfelt understanding as I raced through this book, living these difficult moments with them.
I'm a staunch advocate of holistic and alternative medicine, my family having used homeopathy for years now rather than allopathic medicine. So I cheered this couple who practiced non-invasive treatments to fight illness, even cancer. I greatly admire the ground-breaking work of neurologist Norman Doidge, Barbara Arrowsmith Young and Dr. Gabor Maté, who have restored my belief in the power of the mind and body connection after I suffered from post-partum depression. Their work helped me find my way back to health and happiness without conventional drugs.
For all out there who are interested in bettering the medical community, who seek to be inspired to take control of their health or who are faced with a medical situation that requires significant medical intervention, this personal story will be eye-opening and touching. It took guts for the author to lay out a time in his life when he almost lost his wife. If the telling of his story can help others to take a better and a more courageous approach in shaking the medical community so that they listen, really listen to the patient, then it was a worthwhile endeavor for him, not just in the beauty of writing it but in the tour-de-force message it conveys.
Note: There are some f-words, religious profanity and some crude language. Some real life scenes and death potentials.
November 27, 2015
The author and his wife, Rachel, are strong believers in alternative medicine. That is what she did years earlier when she found out she had breast cancer. So when his wife is diagnosed with a brain aneurysm bleed, he doesn't know what to do. The doctors are telling him but he can't seem to know to do that. It was a well written account of his feelings.
There were many times when the author was rather rude and abrupt to the medical staff. Instead of going into more details and options, the doctors knew this isn't something you can take your time deciding what to do. I completely understand this, my family has had seven members with brain aneurysms. Sadly, not everyone survived. This is a terrible condition and sooner a bleed is treated, the better.
Having been through this situation personally, I can say the author describes the hopelessness and awful feelings you go through for your loved one. He described it perfectly. Yes, I too have been rude at times to doctors and nurses. And honestly, I felt more helpless when it was my father who was the one in a coma for nine days. Truthfully, it was easier being the patient but maybe that is just me.
Times have changed quite a bit recently in how these are treated. My aneurysm was found before rupturing and I was able to have it coiled. My dad at 85, still has his that leaked twice in the 60s and 70s. Medicine wasn't as advanced then and where his is located, Johns Hopkins said surgery was impossible to do.
Although there were times when I wasn't so sure I liked the author at all, I liked Rachel. I'm glad to hear she is doing well and I enjoyed reading this book. Highly recommend it to anyone having had a family member with a brain aneurysm. It's a hard thing to deal with and good to see we all struggle over what is best for ourselves or our loved ones.
* I received a copy of this book to read and review for a blog tour. I'd like to thank the author and wish him and Rachel well.
There were many times when the author was rather rude and abrupt to the medical staff. Instead of going into more details and options, the doctors knew this isn't something you can take your time deciding what to do. I completely understand this, my family has had seven members with brain aneurysms. Sadly, not everyone survived. This is a terrible condition and sooner a bleed is treated, the better.
Having been through this situation personally, I can say the author describes the hopelessness and awful feelings you go through for your loved one. He described it perfectly. Yes, I too have been rude at times to doctors and nurses. And honestly, I felt more helpless when it was my father who was the one in a coma for nine days. Truthfully, it was easier being the patient but maybe that is just me.
Times have changed quite a bit recently in how these are treated. My aneurysm was found before rupturing and I was able to have it coiled. My dad at 85, still has his that leaked twice in the 60s and 70s. Medicine wasn't as advanced then and where his is located, Johns Hopkins said surgery was impossible to do.
Although there were times when I wasn't so sure I liked the author at all, I liked Rachel. I'm glad to hear she is doing well and I enjoyed reading this book. Highly recommend it to anyone having had a family member with a brain aneurysm. It's a hard thing to deal with and good to see we all struggle over what is best for ourselves or our loved ones.
* I received a copy of this book to read and review for a blog tour. I'd like to thank the author and wish him and Rachel well.
November 12, 2015
The author, Robert Wintner, and his wife are serious alternative health advocates who embrace the idea of strengthening the body's resources and immunity rather than bombarding it with toxic chemicals and invasive treatments. It worked well for them right up to the moment Wintner's wife had an aneurysm bleed. What follows is a chaotic, heart felt journey through the emergency system that sheds a light on how patients are treated within a trauma scenario.
First and foremost, I have to give kudos to the author. His fluid writing style and the honest way he lays out what happened brings the scene to life. I ended up feeling like I knew all the characters involved, could hear the disturbing noises that never stopped, jumped every time the curtain was swished back unexpectedly and felt the pressure to just let go and sign without getting questions answered as to full treatment options. There was one road that they were expected to follow without question.
Wintner is very honest about how difficult he was to deal with as they demanded things slow down and more information be given. The hospital went so far as to send a psych person who talked like he was there to help, but was really there to access them for the hospital's legal team. He labeled them paranoid. In the end, the surgery saved his wife's life, for which the author will be forever grateful. BUT every hospital needs to address the fear and the tension created by the current process as it can have a serious negative impact on the patient.
The need to feel free to ask questions and get real answers on all the possible treatment choices is the basic right of each person who enters the hospital. It should never be a one-stop shop with everyone crammed in the same box and thought needs to be given to keeping a person's mental strength up as that can have a powerful effect on the outcome.
A great read!
First and foremost, I have to give kudos to the author. His fluid writing style and the honest way he lays out what happened brings the scene to life. I ended up feeling like I knew all the characters involved, could hear the disturbing noises that never stopped, jumped every time the curtain was swished back unexpectedly and felt the pressure to just let go and sign without getting questions answered as to full treatment options. There was one road that they were expected to follow without question.
Wintner is very honest about how difficult he was to deal with as they demanded things slow down and more information be given. The hospital went so far as to send a psych person who talked like he was there to help, but was really there to access them for the hospital's legal team. He labeled them paranoid. In the end, the surgery saved his wife's life, for which the author will be forever grateful. BUT every hospital needs to address the fear and the tension created by the current process as it can have a serious negative impact on the patient.
The need to feel free to ask questions and get real answers on all the possible treatment choices is the basic right of each person who enters the hospital. It should never be a one-stop shop with everyone crammed in the same box and thought needs to be given to keeping a person's mental strength up as that can have a powerful effect on the outcome.
A great read!
December 28, 2015
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Brainstorm: A Memoir of Love, Devotion, and a Cerebral Aneurysm by Robert Wintner in exchange for an honest review.
As a book reviewer I rarely find myself feeling ambivalent about a book, but as I sit down to write this review I’m still sorting out how I feel about Brainstorm. I can say that it elicited a flood of emotions as I read through it.
I admire Mr. Wintner’s style of writing and the raw emotion exposed by the breast cancer diagnosis and later with the diagnosis of the aneurysm. I don’t find myself particularly drawn to the gentleman’s lack of tact in referring to parts of the female anatomy throughout.
This is an amazing story of love, discovery, adversity, and ultimately, of vanquishing. This is also a story that discloses one of the most intimidating parts of tackling any illness and communicating with the medical community. In the event of a life-threatening illness such as an aneurysm, everything escalates as seemingly every moment counts in getting treatment to the area affected.
This isn’t a book that one would pick up to read without expecting to live along with the Wintners the angst of living, treating, and surviving an aneurysm.
I highly recommend Brainstorm: A Memoir of Love, Devotion, and a Cerebral Aneurysm by Robert Wintner and give it five steaming hot cups of Room With Books coffee.
©November 17, 2015
Patricia, Room With Books
As a book reviewer I rarely find myself feeling ambivalent about a book, but as I sit down to write this review I’m still sorting out how I feel about Brainstorm. I can say that it elicited a flood of emotions as I read through it.
I admire Mr. Wintner’s style of writing and the raw emotion exposed by the breast cancer diagnosis and later with the diagnosis of the aneurysm. I don’t find myself particularly drawn to the gentleman’s lack of tact in referring to parts of the female anatomy throughout.
This is an amazing story of love, discovery, adversity, and ultimately, of vanquishing. This is also a story that discloses one of the most intimidating parts of tackling any illness and communicating with the medical community. In the event of a life-threatening illness such as an aneurysm, everything escalates as seemingly every moment counts in getting treatment to the area affected.
This isn’t a book that one would pick up to read without expecting to live along with the Wintners the angst of living, treating, and surviving an aneurysm.
I highly recommend Brainstorm: A Memoir of Love, Devotion, and a Cerebral Aneurysm by Robert Wintner and give it five steaming hot cups of Room With Books coffee.
©November 17, 2015
Patricia, Room With Books
November 13, 2015
Brainstorm by Robert Wintner was such an interesting book to read. I love the author’s sense of humor and his writing style. I really enjoyed this book as well because it has medical things in it and that is always a great thing because that is the one field that I truly love. I loved that this book wasn’t super long and yet it was long enough so you understand and that it didn’t feel rushed. I loved learning what they went through and how they got through it all. If you love reading true stories than I would recommend this book to you. It is also good for people who are looking into more natural ways of healing your body and what not. It was interesting learning what they did to beat cancer and what not so it would be good for people who are into the more natural ideas as well.
FTC:I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
FTC:I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
November 8, 2015
Robert Wintner's Brainstorm is an eye-opening tale of living through a life-threatening medical emergency.
The author effectively relates his frustration at not being in control and just wanting to receive straight answers from the medical personnel involved in his wife's care. The way an experience shapes how you react was another aspect that came through in his story.
From the moment you receive a shocking diagnosis to the point in which you come to appreciate the care you've received. You could practically feel what they were going through.
It wasn't until halfway through the book that the book that the story about his wife's aneurysm and subsequent medical intervention began. There was also some mild profanity and crude language.
The author effectively relates his frustration at not being in control and just wanting to receive straight answers from the medical personnel involved in his wife's care. The way an experience shapes how you react was another aspect that came through in his story.
From the moment you receive a shocking diagnosis to the point in which you come to appreciate the care you've received. You could practically feel what they were going through.
It wasn't until halfway through the book that the book that the story about his wife's aneurysm and subsequent medical intervention began. There was also some mild profanity and crude language.
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