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Full Circle: A Physician's Memoir of a Life Lived with Polio
Two emotions have defined the life of Dr. Steven his desire to overcome the limitations of childhood polio and his great love of medicine. In this stirring memoir, he writes of his own ambitions, his struggles with the post-polio symptoms that crippled his career, and his life at the cutting edge of 20th century medicine. “Dr. Steven Diamond tells a dramatic story that comes, as it has for many polio survivors, full circle.”
Lauro S. Halstead, M.D.
Director, Post-Polio Program, National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, D.C.
212 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 8, 2014
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April 22, 2016
I think I would really like Steven Diamond personally (aside from his very negative comments about Medicare; it's here to stay so suggestions on how to make it work would be better than despair about chucking it). He is occasionally humorous and writes well, was anti-Viet Nam and into the folk music scene in the 60's. He writes well, if a little too detailed about medical procedures he's done. Yawn.
I think this book would mostly be of interest to other doctors, or those who wish to know about the history of endoscopy/colonoscopies and what it's like to go through medical school, internship and staring a medical practice.
I bought *Full Circle* because Dr. Diamond is a polio survivor and I wanted to learn about his experience and how it affected all aspects of his life. I'm a polio survivor myself and am also writing a memoir. He does describe what he can recall about the disease onset and how it affected him as a child, how his father treated him (I am finding that many polio survivors were beaten or otherwise abused as children, and also were expected to make up for our handicap and "do better" than other kids) and his mother's kind worry about his condition, which he hoped to hide from her in some respects.
And he mentions from time to time his fatigue, his extreme fatigue, and a couple of instances of discrimination regarding his handicap. Then at the very end he briefly describes his Post-Polio effects.
Also, some of the things he mentions in the book are not accurate, such as Sister Kenny being a nun and nurse from the US. She was Australian, was not a nun, and was an "unaccredited nurse," sort of a self-taught physical therapist - who happened to come up with the best methods for polio rehab. And there was another bit about either the number of polio patients in the US or the number who had paralysis that didn't match my research from several sources.
The byline in the title says "a physician's memoir of a life lived with polio." Perhaps it seems that way to him, but it might have been better to say, "a physician's memoir who incidentally had had polio."
In any case, good writing, seemingly a nice and intelligent fellow, but, only about 1/6 to 1/5 of the book relates to polio and 3/4 of it is about the path of becoming and being a doctor.
I think this book would mostly be of interest to other doctors, or those who wish to know about the history of endoscopy/colonoscopies and what it's like to go through medical school, internship and staring a medical practice.
I bought *Full Circle* because Dr. Diamond is a polio survivor and I wanted to learn about his experience and how it affected all aspects of his life. I'm a polio survivor myself and am also writing a memoir. He does describe what he can recall about the disease onset and how it affected him as a child, how his father treated him (I am finding that many polio survivors were beaten or otherwise abused as children, and also were expected to make up for our handicap and "do better" than other kids) and his mother's kind worry about his condition, which he hoped to hide from her in some respects.
And he mentions from time to time his fatigue, his extreme fatigue, and a couple of instances of discrimination regarding his handicap. Then at the very end he briefly describes his Post-Polio effects.
Also, some of the things he mentions in the book are not accurate, such as Sister Kenny being a nun and nurse from the US. She was Australian, was not a nun, and was an "unaccredited nurse," sort of a self-taught physical therapist - who happened to come up with the best methods for polio rehab. And there was another bit about either the number of polio patients in the US or the number who had paralysis that didn't match my research from several sources.
The byline in the title says "a physician's memoir of a life lived with polio." Perhaps it seems that way to him, but it might have been better to say, "a physician's memoir who incidentally had had polio."
In any case, good writing, seemingly a nice and intelligent fellow, but, only about 1/6 to 1/5 of the book relates to polio and 3/4 of it is about the path of becoming and being a doctor.
Displaying 1 of 1 review