When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales of Neurosurgery

By Frank T. Vertosick Jr.

Book Overview

With poignant insight and humor, Frank Vertosick Jr., MD, describes some of the greatest challenges of his career, including a six-week-old infant with a tumor in her brain, a young man struck down in his prime by paraplegia, and a minister with a .22-caliber bullet lodged in his skull. Told through intimate portraits of Vertosick's patients and unsparing yet fascinatingly detailed descriptions of surgical procedures, When the Air Hits Your Brain--the culmination of decades spent struggling to learn an unforgiving craft--illuminates both the mysteries of the mind and the realities of the operating room.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393330494
• ISBN13: 9780393330496
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Funniest neurosurgery book this veteran craniotomy patient has ever read

I've had three craniotomies, (including excision of what a Radiologist called "the biggest meningioma I've ever seen"), thanks to Radiation for treatment of childhood leukemia. I loved this book, showing the arduous training of a Neurosurgeon. Best of all: in order to stay sane, one has to maintain a sense of humor, on both sides of the scalpel, I think. As an adult, with yet another brain tumor, I joke that I'm dying of childhood cancer, while Dr. Vertosick shares the pranks and backtalk, as well as the literally deadly serious, aspects of his career. Anyone who has the courage and oomph to work on a patient's brain must have the patience of a snail, the speed of a cheetah, and the agility of a fox, with the human gift of consciousness to recognize, "Whoops, I blew it," and come down the mountain of ego. Vertosick has all of these extraordinary gifts, as well as the rare talent to write about them, hitting my brain like a breath of fresh air.

Less stories of neurosurgery, more autobiography

Interesting read. The beginning was quite a bit slow in my mind, focusing largely on his school side and less on the story side. I didn't get the actual "tales of neurosurgery" feel until halfway through the book. It was interesting to see the journey that a surgeon goes on, and I'm sure there would be surprises for someone who's never worked in the medical field before. There were a few stories that were quite potent and exactly what I thought the whole book would be, but I'm not sure I'd recommend reading this just for those few unless you just really like autobiographies. I'm on the fence with most autobiographies, and I wasn't expecting such a high autobiographical note from the synopsis of this one. The most interesting components were the change in modern medicine with access to MRI/CT machines and other small nuances. 6/10 recommend, it wasn't terrible and I finished reading it

Vivid description of a neurosurgeon!

I'm a neurosurgeon myself.I'm still so moved by the stories told by the author.They reflected the true life in my daily practice and circumstances.They seems funny but actually sad inside, filled with sorrow and tears of both the patients and doctors. I strongly recommend this book to those who would like to participate in this field of medical speciality and to those who would like to understand the real life of a neurosurgeon!

The best medical story I have read---And I've read numerous

A compelling story of a physician's journey to become a neurosurgeon. I was engaged after the first paragraph, and had a hard time putting the book down thereafter. Vertosick's style is fluent, straightforward, and without the literary flare that so often clouds books. Within the two days that it took to read this book, I became medical student, patient and neurosurgeon. This was an experience that I shall remember 'til I die.

You're never the same!

Just as the opening incanatation states, "You're never the same when the arir hits your brain," the same is true for readers of this book. To all aspiring medical students a warning! After reading Dr. Vertosick's enthralling tales you will never aspire to be anything but a Nuerosurgeon.

A nuerosurgeon's experiences; very interesting and readable

The author says the first rule of neurosurgey is "You're never the same once the air hits your brain." Full of the type of dark humor you would expect from medical profesisonals, this book chronicles the experiences of a neurosurgeon from his days as a medical student to his present day practice in Pittsburg. It is very well-written and is intended for the layman (my guess is that fans of the TV show "ER" would love this book). But be warned, emotionally it is a very hard book to read. Take for example the story of the woman who is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor while early in a pregancy. The author's story of her fight to live just long enough to deliver her child cannot help but reduce the reader to tears. The book also forces the reader to realize how quickly the body can betray and fail to function. It can be a scary realization when the neurosurgeon makes clear how quickly life can end. This book is an overlooked treasure. But keep your Kleenex close at hand, especially parents