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The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope

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The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope

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Overview

A Harvard-educated neurosurgeon reveals his experiences—in and out of the operating room—with apparitions, angels, exorcism, after-death survival, and the miracle of hope. For the millions who have enjoyed Proof of Heaven, Heaven is Real, To Heaven and Back, and Getting to Heaven—an inspiring tale from where the veil between life and death is often at its thinnest.

The Scalpel and the Soul explores how premonition, superstition, hope, and faith not only become factors in how patients feel but can change outcomes. It validates the spiritual manifestations physicians see every day and empowers patients to voice their spiritual needs when they seek medical help. Finally, it addresses the mysterious, attractive powers the soul exerts during life-threatening events.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440638060
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/13/2008
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	346 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Allan J. Hamilton, MD, FACS, is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and has held positions as chief of neurosurgery and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Arizona. He is currently the executive director of the Arizona Simulation Technology and Education Center. Dr. Hamilton has authored more than 20 medical textbook chapters and 50 peer-review research articles, and has served on the editorial board of several medical journals. He is the author of The Scalpel and the Soul, winner of the 2009 Nautilus Silver Award, and Zen Mind, Zen Horse—The Science and Spirituality of Training Horses, which won the Nautilus Gold Award.

Foreword   Andrew Weil, M.D.     ix
Introduction     xi
Crystal Ball     1
Ogooue: River of Doubt     11
The Dying of the Light     29
Is There a Doctor in the House?     45
No One Dies with Harvard Numbers     54
From Flesh to Spirit     64
Queen of the Gypsies     79
Incidental Finding     88
Mother-and-Child Reunion     94
The Exorcist     106
Thread of Hope     126
Singing in the Brain     141
For the Love of God     154
The Surgeon Who Became a Murderer     166
Luck of the Draw     179
Soul Survivor     188
Epilogue: Decent Interval     205
Twenty Rules to Live By     213
Acknowledgments     243
Index     249

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Funny, irreverent, earthy, big-hearted, honest, real."
-Family Circle online "Books of the Month" Review

"Allan Hamilton is a natural storyteller. His real-life experiences remind us that patients and surgeons can share in a spiritual transformation during the course of battling disease."
-Linda Klein, R.N., producer of Grey's Anatomy and Nip/Tuck

"His observations and insights push the limits of current scientific knowledge as he attempts to bring some rational thought to the unexplainable."
-Richard Carmona, M.D., MPH, FACS, 17th Surgeon General of the United States

"A moving account of what can happen when a doctor opens his heart and his eyes to life's spiritual lessons and to the mystery that thrives amidst the terror and trauma of life-threatening illness."
-Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Help Me to Heal and Prescriptions for Living

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Editorial Reviews

Author Allan Hamilton is a Harvard-trained neurosurgeon who is especially attuned to sudden spiritual manifestations. During his 30 years in medicine, he has witnessed operating room occurrences perhaps best described as supernatural. In The Scalpel and the Soul, he shares stories of these miraculous visitations, which include appearances by ghosts and angels, as well as a Navaho exorcism. An intelligent look at the connections between spirit and well-being.

Hamilton has led a remarkable life as a neurosurgeon. There are moments in this spiritual memoir when readers will wish he were their personal guide for the scariest of surgeries. In many ways, this is a story about "real" doctors as Hamilton understands them-people with exemplary bedside manners who not only make life-and-death decisions for the most vulnerable of the sick, but who have the vision (sometimes literally) to sit and listen as long as it takes, to take patients' hands, dealing with their questions and fears with the utmost gentleness and an eye toward the transcendent and supernatural. Readers will be moved by stories of former patients like "Thomas," a child burn victim with such a gift of spirit that he could manage joy despite his tragic condition, and "Donald," a brave man determined to live life to the fullest despite a vicious brain tumor. Hamilton's voice soars when he reflects directly on his experience as a brain surgeon, the bulk of which occurs (unfortunately) in the book's second half. In light of these high points, Hamilton's occasionally stumbling and awkward prose when straying from his patients' sides can seem jarring. (Mar. 13)
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Publishers Weekly

"Funny, irreverent, earthy, big-hearted, honest, real."
-Family Circle online "Books of the Month" Review
"Allan Hamilton is a natural storyteller. His real-life experiences remind us that patients and surgeons can share in a spiritual transformation during the course of battling disease."
-Linda Klein, R.N., producer of Grey's Anatomy and Nip/Tuck
"His observations and insights push the limits of current scientific knowledge as he attempts to bring some rational thought to the unexplainable."
-Richard Carmona, M.D., MPH, FACS, 17th Surgeon General of the United States
"A moving account of what can happen when a doctor opens his heart and his eyes to life's spiritual lessons and to the mystery that thrives amidst the terror and trauma of life-threatening illness."
-Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Help Me to Heal and Prescriptions for Living

From the Publisher

The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope

The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope

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