Picked by Imperforate Anus/Anorectal Malformation/VACTERL fans

Here are 4 books that Imperforate Anus/Anorectal Malformation/VACTERL fans have personally recommended once you finish the Imperforate Anus/Anorectal Malformation/VACTERL series. Shepherd is a community of authors and super-readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Book cover of A Breast Cancer Alphabet

Devesh Dahale Author Of The 5000th Baby: A Parent's Perspective and Journey through the First Year of Life

From my list on patient/family experience in healthcare.

Why am I passionate about this?

Life caught me by surprise when our youngest son was born with a birth defect that launched our family into the world of surgeries, and treatments. After experiencing the management of chronic care for our child firsthand, I realized how important it is to share personal stories and experiences. It enables empathy and a deeper understanding and appreciation of what patients and families go through. Autobiographical accounts of patients and families are still very limited. We need more people to come forward and share their own patient/family experiences in order to promote the betterment of healthcare and healing through relating with others and learning from others’ experiences.


Devesh's book list on patient/family experience in healthcare

Devesh Dahale Why Devesh loves this book

Breast cancer has become ubiquitously one of the most common and dreaded cancers among women. Through this book, the author authentically and innovatively advocates for patients like her, who are diagnosed with breast cancer. She describes her journey in detail in an attempt to guide and advise others on how to deal with and manage life in the face of such a deadly diagnosis. While patients may be overwhelmed by the medical management aspects of the disease, the author reminds us to keep the human and psychological aspects in mind as a patient is after all a human being with emotions at the core.

By Madhulika Sikka ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Breast Cancer Alphabet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A definitive and approachable guide to life during, and after, breast cancer
 
The biggest risk factor for breast cancer is simply being a woman.  Madhulika Sikka's A Breast Cancer Alphabet offers a new way to live with and plan past the hardest diagnosis that most women will ever receive: a personal, practical, and deeply informative look at the road from diagnosis to treatment and beyond.

What Madhulika Sikka didn't foresee when initially diagnosed, and what this book brings to life so vividly, are the unexpected and minute challenges that make navigating the world of breast cancer all the trickier.  A…


Book cover of Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey Into the Afterlife

Kamla K. Kapur Author Of The Privilege of Aging

From my list on lighting up and rekindling the human spirit.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am excited by books that broaden my perspective on existence, dissolve mental barriers, broaden our visions, and offer powerful new ways to see the world; life-affirming books that help us to understand life, ourselves, become more conscious of existence, create our own realities and show us how to become masters of our lives instead of victims; books that blend science, spirituality, art, philosophy, life. The types of books I read and the types of books I write have plots that continuously span the terror of the human condition and transformation. 

Kamla's book list on lighting up and rekindling the human spirit

Kamla K. Kapur Why Kamla loves this book

I devoured Eben Alexander’s book about a neurologist’s experiences in a coma. It was fascinating, the kind of book that keeps you glued to your seat. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have even considered reading a book with that title. My rational mind wasn’t open to anything beyond what my senses could verify. I dismissed my mystical experiences as coincidences, skeptical of anything that challenged the laws of physics or hinted at mystery.

Though the word "heaven" still doesn’t resonate with me, I’ve begun to sense something unknown. William Blake said, "Everything possible to be believed is an image of truth." My growing awareness of my own mortality has made me more receptive to the unknown.

I no longer demand proof or argue with the unseen. Instead, I listen and allow wonder to rise naturally. Death, once seen as an end, now feels like a threshold into something vast…

By Eben Alexander ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Proof of Heaven as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Internationally acclaimed neurosurgeon Dr Eben Alexander always considered himself a man of science. His unwavering belief in evidence-based medicine fuelled a career in the top medical institutions of the world. But all this was set to change. One morning in 2008 he fell into a coma after suffering a rare form of bacterial meningitis. Scans of his brain revealed massive damage. Death was deemed the most likely outcome. As his family prepared themselves for the worst, something miraculous happened. Dr Alexander's brain went from near total inactivity to awakening. He made a full recovery but he was never the same.…


Book cover of Chasing My Cure: A Doctor's Race to Turn Hope Into Action; A Memoir

Devesh Dahale Author Of The 5000th Baby: A Parent's Perspective and Journey through the First Year of Life

From my list on patient/family experience in healthcare.

Why am I passionate about this?

Life caught me by surprise when our youngest son was born with a birth defect that launched our family into the world of surgeries, and treatments. After experiencing the management of chronic care for our child firsthand, I realized how important it is to share personal stories and experiences. It enables empathy and a deeper understanding and appreciation of what patients and families go through. Autobiographical accounts of patients and families are still very limited. We need more people to come forward and share their own patient/family experiences in order to promote the betterment of healthcare and healing through relating with others and learning from others’ experiences.


Devesh's book list on patient/family experience in healthcare

Devesh Dahale Why Devesh loves this book

Imagine being a medical school student in the best of health and full of spirit and ambition, and suddenly being engulfed by a strange and mysterious illness that even the best of doctors in the most renowned hospitals are unable to appropriately diagnose, let alone treat. This chilling story of a doctor who literally chases his own cure is a great example of the much-needed patient advocacy that may often be required to diagnose and treat rare and complex conditions effectively. The author’s passion for finding the underlying cause of his disease (Castleman’s disease) and experimenting with innovative unlikely combinations of drug therapies makes his story memorable and truly inspiring.

By David Fajgenbaum ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Chasing My Cure as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

LOS ANGELES TIMES AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER • The powerful memoir of a young doctor and former college athlete diagnosed with a rare disease who spearheaded the search for a cure—and became a champion for a new approach to medical research.

“A wonderful and moving chronicle of a doctor’s relentless pursuit, this book serves both patients and physicians in demystifying the science that lies behind medicine.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene

David Fajgenbaum, a former Georgetown quarterback, was nicknamed the Beast in medical school, where he was also known for…


Book cover of My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

Kim Hudson Author Of The Bridge: Connecting The Powers of Linear and Circular Thinking

From my list on decoding the mystery of everyday thinking.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the 70s when a linear perspective was king, including the objectivity of science and elevation of the importance of men’s work, so I fought to become a female exploration geologist. I learned to conquer dangers and collect data to discover riches. I also learned that my feminine intuition and curiosity were invaluable in understanding the patterns in nature. My next career as a treaty negotiator for the Federal government introduced me to indigenous cultures, and I felt the familiar clash of circular and linear thinking once again. I dedicated myself to the study and work experience that would help me give language to this pattern.

Kim's book list on decoding the mystery of everyday thinking

Kim Hudson Why Kim loves this book

This account of a stroke took me from seeing thinking as one complex mystery to seeing two styles of thinking in me. This was life-changing. Taylor’s stroke left her stuck in one mode or the other, and as a neuroscientist, she had the language to describe each mode. How rare is that! 

She first cared deeply about the present moment and wholeness. Feeling connected to her body and the energy in everything around her, she was flooded with feelings of curiosity and love. Then, perception shifted, and Taylor focused on finding details to categorize and organize, with a focus on the past as predictors of the future. The world was there for her to use as she achieved her goals. As Taylor described these two states, I could feel and relate to the differences. I started to consciously separate them out in my mind, feeling suddenly awake.

By Jill Bolte Taylor ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked My Stroke of Insight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Transformative...[Taylor's] experience...will shatter [your] own perception of the world."-ABC News

The astonishing New York Times bestseller that chronicles how a brain scientist's own stroke led to enlightenment

On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven- year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist experienced a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. As she observed her mind deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life-all within four hours-Taylor alternated between the euphoria of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she felt a sense of complete well-being and peace, and…