the Tenth Nerve: A Brain Surgeon's Stories of Patients Who Changed Him

In this absorbing narrative, Dr. Chris Honey, an accomplished neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital, weaves his personal journey together with case studies that reflect the thrill of scientific discovery and the limitations of medicine. Operating on a terminally ill child amid an Ebola outbreak in Liberia, he questions his preconceptions about what it means to "win" against a disease. Reflecting on his own path into neurosurgery, he brings to life a relatively new, high stakes field of medicine one that historically demanded emotional detachment and often attracts extreme personalities. With a compassionate eye, he traces the courage and determination of several patients suffering from mysterious, unrecognized illnesses, and invites us into the operating room with Dr. Honey and his team to witness the extraordinary discovery involving the tenth cranial nerve of an entirely new disease and its cure. And, outside the OR, an unusual friendship with a former patient alters his perspective on clinical detachment, and what "quality of life" really means. Riveting and dramatic, offers a rare window into the world of a pre-eminent neurosurgeon and seven exceptional patients that made him a better doctor.