Carrying the Black Bag: A Neurologist’s Bedside
Tales
Author: Tom Hutton MD
Genre: memoir
Publisher: Texas
Tech University Press
Date of
Publication: December 7, 2015
# of pages: 240
In his
thirty-plus years of practicing medicine, physician and neurologist Tom Hutton
discovered that a doctor’s best teachers are often his patients. From these
extraordinary individuals, Hutton gained a whole-hearted respect for the
resourcefulness, courage, and resilience of the human spirit. Hutton’s
patients—and the valuable lessons they taught—served as the inspiration for
Carrying the Black Bag.
Carrying the Black Bag invites readers to
experience what it’s like to be a doctor’s hands, eyes, and heart. Imagine the
joy of witnessing a critically ill five-year-old who, against all odds, claws
her way back from a coma and near certain death. Meet a lonely Texas widower
with Parkinson’s disease who hosts elaborate pinochle parties for a pack of
imaginary canines. Step into the surgical booties of the author when he
attempts to deliver his own child amid heart-stopping obstetrical
complications—during a paralyzing Minnesota blizzard.
Through real-life
patient narratives, Hutton shines light on ordinary people facing extraordinary
challenges. Moreover, this captivating tale captures the drama of medicine—its
mystery, pathos, heroism, sacrifice, and humor.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
Each story slipped into The Black Bag is
a shining jewel, polished to perfection and written with empathy, sensitivity
and humor. Hutton brings to life a doctor's unflagging dedication to the human
condition as a healer with utmost respect for each patient fortunate enough to
be graced by his compassion and commitment. Every tale once begun, entrances.
-Antoinette van Heughten,
author of USA Bestseller Saving Max, and The Tulip Eaters
Being a physician is a
privilege, in no small part because of the powerful insight it provides into
the human condition. Tom Hutton addresses themes of interest to all
readers--love, loyalty, family, and mortality, and shows how he could affect a
positive outcome, and how he, in turn, was changed by those for whom he cared.
-William L. Henrich, MD,
President, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
How many doctors have you come
across who can write this well, especially for the lay reader? He's a natural,
that's for sure! Carrying The Black Bag is a must-read for anyone interested in
following a wonderful doctor on his rounds.
-Bartee Haile, newspaper
columnist and author of Texas Depression-Era Desperadoes, and Murders Most
Texan
A wonderful journey through the
training, practice, triumphs, and travails of a dedicated physician.
-D. P. Lyle, MD, author of Dub
Walker and Samantha Cody thriller series.
Chapter 9
AT THE FURROW’S END
Heavy
double doors banged behind me. I located the unidentified woman responsible for
my stat page. A glance revealed a small body eclipsed by monitors, a wheezing
ventilator, and a virtual spaghetti bowl of wires and catheters.
Somewhere
across the intensive care unit, a ventilator alarm shrieked, a telephone
jingled, and infusion pumps thrummed. Nurses with intent facial expressions
scurried about the unit on rubber-soled shoes, providing care for these, the
very sickest of the hospital’s sick.
(Her husband arrives and provides a
surprisingly poignant description, transforming his wife in my eyes)
“Doc,
do everything you can.” His voice cracked and faltered before struggling on. He
finally blurted out, “I…I love that old gal.”
After
his description I no longer could think of Maggie Croft as a shriveled old
woman with failing physiology. She had become an energetic harvester who had
struggled through desperate decades tightly bonded to her husband. She had
evoked the strongest display of public emotion of which I felt Ned Croft
capable.
And
struggle to save her life we did. We addressed her brain swelling to eke out
precious millimeters of space within her skull to buy time for the blood clot
to recede. We tried every management strategy to salvage the life of Maggie
Croft—but in the end our efforts came to naught.
I
recall Ned’s slow pace as he departed the intensive care unit. He pushed at the
swinging doors, opening them a crack. Ned glanced back at his deceased wife’s
body, his eyes vacant. Ned Croft with his tattered appearance and pained
emotions was abruptly lost from view as the doors slammed shut behind him. The
complexity of love has baffled the wisest sages. But for me, Ned’s simple
utterance said it best. “Doc, I love that old gal.”
Excerpt from Carrying the Black Bag: A
Neurologist’s Bedside Tales (Texas Tech University Press) by
Tom Hutton, MD
HALL WAYS REVIEW:
Early on in his forty
years of practicing medicine, Dr. Hutton learned to listen and to treat the
patient, not the illness. That lesson greatly enriched his life, and his life
stories will keep readers captivated.
Given his education
and credentials, it may seem redundant to say that author Dr. Tom Hutton writes
intelligently; however, I have read more than a few books where despite an
amazing portfolio of accolades, the author's writing was a mess. Carrying the Black Bag is not one of those books.
Dr. Hutton gives
readers credit for being able to follow along and doesn't dumb-down his content
-- indicators of why he was such a wonderful doctor.
"Love has the
utmost importance in the lives of ill people."
As Dr. Hutton shares
a series of stories from over the years, what shines through is the importance
of love, hope, and humor in patients, loved ones, and doctors.
Hutton repeatedly
plants seeds that regardless of the advances in technology, "the practice
of medicine is, in the final analysis, a human-to-human transfer and rendering
of care." Truly, this should be required reading
for medical students as a reminder of how one of the finest skills a doctor can
possess is listening.
Readers inside and
outside the medical world will enjoy Hutton's insights and reflections.
The symbolism of
the black bag is woven throughout his stories, and Hutton uses lots of
figurative language to provide wonderfully rich descriptions. Also included are
interesting tidbits for readers from the non-medical world: for example, the
length of the doctor's coat indicates his/her level of training (longer is most
experienced.) Good to know!
The writing is
outstanding, and since I had a copy-edit version of the book, I will assume the
very few errors will be corrected.
I could see some
placeholders in the copy-edit, so it appears that the final version will have
some illustrations or figures and that there will be an index, both of which
will bring even more to the book.
The stories of the
people and patients met between the book covers will stay within readers' hearts. As
they turn the final page and close the book, readers will feel that their time
was well spent.
Tom Hutton, M.
D., is an internationally-recognized clinical and research neurologist and
educator. The past president of the Texas Neurological Society, Dr. Hutton
served as professor and vice chairman of the Department of Medical and Surgical
Neurology at the Texas Tech School of Medicine. He now lives on his cattle
ranch near Fredericksburg, Texas.
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