The Patient in the White Coat: My Odyssey from Health to Illness and Back

When her life as a doctor, wife, and mother was interrupted by a surprising diagnosis of Hepatitis C, Kaplan began her odyssey. Still at the beginning of her medical career, she suddenly had to deal with a doctor who told her she "might" live to see her son's high school graduation. She tried experimental drugs that left her feeling awful. She experienced relapses twice before a third treatment finally cured her. In plain, sometimes clumsy language, Kaplan describes what will be to many a familiar story: waiting. Waiting for an appointment, the doctor, test results, or new treatments to become available. She also relates signing consent forms describing the many horrible side effects that might happen and which may or may not have been explained. In her experience Kaplan was surprised to find that "those closest to me - often because of their caring itself - backed away when I needed them most." Her story is engaging and honest; patients will relate, and physicians or students who haven't run the gauntlet of the medical system may learn what it's like to be on the other side of the stethoscope. (Aug.)