Cracked Marbles: Life's Lessons for a Maine Surgeon

by Tom Palmer

In twenty-two delightful vignettes, the fictitious Dr. Harry Byrd captures the voices and lives of Maine's people as he interacts with his patients in their time of need and beyond. The doctor is touched by their lives and stories.

210 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

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Reviews

[Kathy Cheverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having worked at the same hospital as Dr. Tom Palmer, I saw him quite frequently in the halls. He was a well known and much loved doctor. He truly understood what the patient/doctor relationship should be and in his later years could see what the future relationships would be. Younger generations do not recognize the enormous loss of what we had in our medical community back in the 1950,s and 60’s. Physicians today do not know their patients. They are pushed to see as many patients as possible. They key symptoms into a computer, sometimes order tests if suggested by the computer algorithm, prescribe drugs to treat the problem and/or refer the patient to a specialist in the appropriate field. Then they move on to patient #34 for the day. Is it any wonder so many have so little confidence in their doctors?

[Barbara]

The author was my physician and friend. Reading the book was like spending an afternoon with an old friend. Enjoyable. It was also about medicine when physician-patient relationships were the rule and not the exception.