The Angina Monologues: stories of surgery for broken hearts - Softcover

Praise for The Naked Surgeon: `[The Naked Surgeon] takes a scalpel to the medical profession and asks if patients get the standard of care they have the right to expect from their surgeons ... A valuable resource.' * Irish Independent * Praise for The Naked Surgeon: `One can't help but think of Henry Marsh when reading Samer Nashef ... [He] writes clearly, with plentiful moments of humour.' * The Independent * Praise for The Naked Surgeon: `A Malcolm Gladwell-esque look at what happens in operating theatres ... Nashef's humanity and compassion shine through.' * The Times * `It's funny, sad, uplifting and hopeful. Samer Nashef's writing style is easy for the lay person to understand (his description of how to do a heart transplant is unforgettable) but is also interesting to those who have some knowledge of cardiology ... Whether you work in medicine or are just interested in how heart problems can be corrected by surgery, this is a great read. I read this book in a couple of days because the stories were so varied and enthralling.' * Sam Still Reading * `Enthralling and outspoken.' -- Andrew Billen * The Times * `[Nashef's] honest, unvarnished writing about his life and death work has given his readers new insights into the reality of life inside the operating theatre.' -- Stephen Sackur * BBC World News `HARDtalk' *

A pioneering cardiac surgeon expertly sews up the heart of surgery, the health of the nation, and the NHS. The Angina Monologues speeds from the transporting of a donor's heart up the motorway hard shoulder, to cautionary stories of excessive intervention gone awry in US hospitals, to a traumatic trip to bring advanced cardiac surgery to the Palestinian West Bank. Nashef tells heart-stopping stories of transplants, coronary artery bypasses, aorta repair, and cardiac arrest. He also delivers humane advice about medical realities rarely observed: the futility of obsessing over diet, the necessity of calculating risks, the role of decision making, the resilience of doctor and patient alike, and the threadbare brilliance of the NHS. Nashef is a magnificently warm and likeable doctor and writer; and he has the best imaginable bedside manner.