Second Lives: The Journey of Brain-Injury Survivors and Their Healers

by Ralph B. Lilly, Diane F. Kramer, Joyce Stamp Lilly (Narrator)

“Discharged from a hospital just means you’re not dead.” These words of Ralph B. Lilly, M.D., describe his early struggle to recover from a traumatic brain injury. Lilly was a forty-four-year-old practicing neurologist sitting on his motorcycle at a red light when a drunk driver rear-ended him in 1980. In the ICU, after regaining consciousness and being told what happened, he asked, “What’s a hospital? What’s a motorcycle?” This tragic experience transformed his life and his approach to his neurology doctors treat those with brain injury; but loved ones heal them. Second The Journey of Brain Injury Survivors and Their Healers is written by Dr. Lilly and Diane F. Kramer. After his death in 2021, Kramer completed the book with the assistance of Lilly’s wife Joyce Stamp Lilly. This memoir weaves together Ralph Lilly’s experience with a collage of stories about his patients and their healers. After his recovery, Lilly retrained in the emerging field of behavioral neurology, which focuses on behavior, memory, cognition, and emotion after brain injury. His clinical skills and expert witness testimony were sought by physicians, survivors, families, and attorneys to secure the best “second life” for survivors. His many patients marveled at his uniquely compassionate “What doctor gives you his cell number and says call any time?” Lilly’s pioneering career spanned forty years from Brown University’s Butler Psychiatric Hospital in Rhode Island to Nexus Health System and private practice in Houston, Texas. He treated ER and hospital inpatients whose loved ones were in acute quandary, as well as outpatients who’d long given up finding a doctor who knew how to help. Lilly’s memoir is full of heart, not science, and will provide insight to general readers, family, and friends of patients with brain injury, as well as those who treat them. His narration is unintentionally poignant, often punctuated by wry humor. He generously incorporates the words of his patients and their families in telling their stories. Their gratitude for his care is profound. As one former patient said, “Without Dr. Lilly, I’d be dead or in jail.”

Genres: Health

Audible Audio

Published February 28, 2024

Reviews

[Norma Dauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a journey through the mind, exploring minfulness and applying psychology and philosophy to manage my own existence. This book took me to a place I never imagined. My life, gratefully, has been spared from traumatic brain injury directly. The journey of these survivors, especially the author, had me rivited to each page. Each case study. That says a lot, I am easily distracted. A series of true stories and their remarkable outcomes. I can see this book as a docu-drama. A love story of sorts. The author passed before publication, but here it is. In its truth and glory. Great read.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

As physician ,I was struck by Dr. Lilly's knowledge, insight, patience and wisdom in the face of challenging tragedies.There is no attempt to make himself out to be a hero, but clearly he has gone beyond most physicians'scope of involvement.It is a straightforward description of the role caretakers need to take to be healers in conjunction with a dedicated physician who sees healing as a possibility in what would be considered by most to be hopeless situations. Dr. Lilly is not just a knowledgeable "doctor", but is a true physician healer.

[Jayne Richmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a moving tribute to an amazing doctor and how he translated his own brain injury trauma into a medical practice that gave hundreds of patients a true second life. It’s inspiring and educational at the same time. A beautiful read.

[Martha Fagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gem! Dr. Lilly’s perspective as a physician and patient is unique— his story sets the tone of authentic storytelling. This is a life affirming book dedicated to the healers among us, honoring their love and dedication as “second lives” are created.

[Dan Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative. A good reminder that you never know what a person is going through; how a brain injury permanently changes a person.

[Lone Star Literary Life]

Featured on Lone Star Book Blog Tours.