"Pickwickian" and Other Stories of Intensive Care Medical and Ethical Challenges in the Icu

"PICKWICKIAN" & OTHER STORIES OF INTENSIVE CARE is a collection of 20 fascinating vignettes about intensive care patients & their problems: diabetic ketoacidosis, Guillain Barre syndrome, AIDS, asthma attack, pulmonary embolism, alcoholic cirrhosis, coma, cocaine overdose, severe hypertension & many other conditions. The title story deals with a middle-aged woman who suffers the infamous 'Pickwickian Syndrome' - massive obesity, daytime sleepiness & respiratory failure. Several stories tackle head on the ethical dilemmas of modern intensive care, such as the right to die ("We Can't Kill Your Mother") & provision of high tech care for the hopelessly ill ("Medicine by Default"). Other stories delve into medical history, e.g. the discovery of insulin & development of bedside right heart catheterization. The stories are written in non-technical language & aimed toward a general audience. The wealth of detail & depiction of real-world intensive care also make the stories interesting to nurses & technicians, especially those who work in an ICU. An index is provided so the reader can readily look up any particular area of interest. The author is associate professor of medicine at a major medical school & director of his hospital's Pulmonary & Critical Care Division.Martin, Lawrence is the author of '"Pickwickian" and Other Stories of Intensive Care Medical and Ethical Challenges in the Icu' with ISBN 9781879653047 and ISBN 1879653044.