Patient in Room Nine Says He's God, The
The Patient in Room Nine Says He's God is a roller coaster ride of joy, controversy, triumph and tragedy; often on the same page.
The Patient in Room Nine Says He's God is a roller coaster ride of joy, controversy, triumph and tragedy; often on the same page.
The Patient in Room Nine Says He's God is a roller coaster ride of joy, controversy, triumph and tragedy; often on the same page.
Emergency medicine, Ethics & morals, Prayer & spiritual
A young Jewish doctor prays to a coma patients Blessed Mother on Christmas Eve, only to have the woman suddenly awakened; there is the voice that tells a too-busy ER doctor to stop a patient walking out, discovering an embolus that would have killed him. The late-night passing of a beloved aunt summons a childhood bully who shows up minutes later, after twenty-five years, to be forgiven and to heal a broken doctor. This ER doctor finds Gods opposite in: a battered childs bruises covered over by make-up, a dying patient whose son finally shows up at the end to reclaim the mans high-top sneakers, the rich or celebrity patients loaded with prescription drugs from doctor friends who end up addicted. But, his real outrage is directed at our cavalier treatment of the elderly, If you put a G-tube in your 80-year-old mother with Alzheimers because shes no longer eating, you will probably have a fast track to hell. The Patient in Room Nine Says He is God is a search for a conscience in medicine, whose doctors keep their faith and their feelings hidden.
Lifetime sales of 7,000, with 4,000 in past year.
Louis Profeta's articles on Linked In have gone viral. He has written on end of life care, ebola, cell phones and encouraging kids in sport. This latest one in January 2016 kicked off over one million views and 1500 comments.
"I know you love me now let me die"....In the old days, she would be propped up on a comfy pillow, in fresh cleaned sheets under the corner window where she would in days gone past watch her children play. Soup would boil on the stove just in case she felt like a sip or two. Perhaps the radio softly played Al Jolson or Glenn Miller, flowers sat on the nightstand, and family quietly came and went. These were her last days. Spent with familiar sounds, in a familiar room, with familiar smells that gave her a final chance to summon memories that will help carry her away. She might have offered a hint of a smile or a soft squeeze of the hand but it was all right if she didn’t. She lost her own words to tell us that it’s OK to just let her die, but she trusted us to be her voice and we took that trust to heart.
You see, that’s how she used to die. We saw our elderly different then. Read more...
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-know-you-love-me-now-let-die-louis-m-profeta-md?trk=prof-post
Other articles
"We're living in an age of Cell Phone Cowards"(June 2015) Linked in contacted Profeta after the ward-winning sports article in 2014 and now publish every article he writes.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/were-living-age-cell-phone-cowards-louis-m-profeta-md
"ER Doctor-what scares me even more than Ebola", one of the most read LinkedIn articles of all time
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141025024804-325275276-er-doctor-what-scares-me-even-more-than-ebola
"Your Kid and my Kid are not playing in the Pros." This article is one of the top sports articles of 2014. It won an award from the Society of Professional Journalism . SHARED more than 500,000 times on FB, tens of thousands of times on twitter and discussed on numerous sports radio stations.
http://www.nuvo.net/GuestVoices/archives/2014/03/18/your-kid-and-my-kid-are-not-playing-in-the-pros?showFullText=true
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I'll always remember The Patient in Room Nine for its sensitivity, wit and originality. Dr. Profeta has constructed an outstanding work here that, at its best moments, channels Oliver Sachs, and otherwise maintains an instructive vision and calming spirit. ~ Writer's Digest
An AMAZING book with lots of detail & description of a passionate ER doctor and his experiences! Wow! I couldn't put it down! An easy book to pick up and read a couple of chapters, or the entire book in one sitting! Looking for a good cry or laugh? Or just want to learn about a subject many of us don't ever encounter. This book is it! ~ J. Cline
It was excellent! You had me laughing and crying, and always entertained. I hope that this is the first of many books to come. Please keep writing! ~ S. Devol
I absolutely loved it. Your spirit, humor and love of life are fabulous. Thank you very much for a wonderful reading! Keep writing! ~ D. Arbuck
I am currently reading a book by a Doctor named Louis M. Profeta, MD. I am not finished yet, but it is already one of my favorite books, ever. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but most of all you will be humbled. It is a must-read for all Docs, especially those that are a little burned out currently. It's also a must read if you are a patient. Sometimes doctors say things and act in ways that come across The wrong way. We don't mean it, and this book gives lot' of insight as to why that happens. ~ K. Martin
I can hardly see the computer screen through my tears. I'm only on the third chapter of your book and just had to lend my voice to the hordes of others who have found it so very touching. The humanity that comes through, the drama and the beautiful small moments you describe make this one of the most meaningful books I've read and I just want to thank you! ~ B. Baily
Not a review but an article by Louis Profeta: "We're Living in an Age of Cell-Phone Cowards" Jun 19, 201573,809views955Likes346CommentsShare on LinkedInShare on FacebookShare on Google PlusShare on Twitter Which is more likely to happen? You get assaulted in a mall parking lot and someone comes to your aid, helps ward off the attacker and calls the police? Or, you get assaulted in a mall parking lot and someone holds up a cell phone and records it all the while providing commentary like, “Damn, she’s getting her ass beaten; someone should call the police?” Just the fact that you have to pause for an instant and contemplate the answer is proof enough. We are becoming a nation of cell phone cowards, legions of do-nothing iPhone creepers who think that helping a fellow man or woman stops and ends with pressing “record.” I’ve been thinking about all of this more and more lately after seeing a recent news clip of two women fighting in our local Wal-Mart — the personal hygiene section, I might add — while a gaggle of Google-eyed, cell-phone cyclops looked on. The video went viral, predictably, resulting in news coverage across the country. We should take comfort, though; not all is lost. It seems a six-year-old boy stepped in during the brawl and beat one lady over the head with a shampoo bottle to make it stop. You can’t make this stuff up. Intervene, or record? There used to be a time in America when we rushed to each other’s aid. Now, we’re more likely to rush to capture someone’s distress for a chance at a snippet of YouTube fame. Yes, there are exceptions. You surely could provide some real – or perhaps exaggerated, urban-myth – examples of person X dying while putting his own life at risk, or person Y getting sued trying to help break up an altercation. But, come on. You probably know someone who’s held a phone out the side window of his car and recorded a crash scene or assault or whatever before giving a single bit of thought whether the police and fire had been called, if the occupant had been killed or if the family had even been notified. But that’s what Facebook and Twitter and Instagram are for, right? We can now instantly post a photo or video of some tragedy and set into motion a chain of events leading to a Facebook instant message from a concerned “friend” that says, “I was on Facebook and I just saw a photo of a car just like yours. It’s rolled over and smashed in a ditch and I just wanted to make sure you or your kids are OK.” Now I do not want to suggest that Facebook is not the way to break this kind of tragic news, and most likely the “friend” vis-à-vis Facebook is better suited at breaking this news to you than a police or hospital chaplain or the ER physician and a grief support team. After all, just last week they “liked” your recipe for red velvet cake, so now you have developed a lifelong bond. This is the world we now live in. One where you can see a photo or a video of tragedy that befalls your family way before the hospital or the police notifies you. My take: If it comes to a decision about whether or not you should intervene, it would be more acceptable and understandable if you just say, “I can’t, I couldn’t, I’m just not suited to get directly involved.” That is okay. Not everyone has the physical gifts, aptitude, courage or even recklessness to jump in and try to stop whatever is happening. I get it. I’m an ER doc. It took me years to be comfortable in a crisis. I also know that we can be so overwhelmed with emotions that we get lost as to what our role should be and how we should respond. It has happened to me many times. It even happens to those (police, fire, military, nurses, physicians, etc.) who have made it a lifetime career to help in a crisis. But I’ll give you my other take on it. If that cell phone in your hand is doing anything other than calling 911, then you are doing something wrong. Sure, you’ve seen these headlines and the associated videos. Maybe you clicked upon them in some Facebook or Twitter feed. You might have paused the changer on a bit of trash journalism from a rerun of MSNBC’s “Caught on Camera.” This is voyeuristic garbage that, if bundled up and sent to deep space, would make an alien gaze upon it and decide humans are a decent source of easily harvested protein able to be sucked up raw with a dollop of horseradish and a squeeze of lemon. We are becoming a generation of spineless mollusks. It’s sad, because even a slug will dive into a cabbage leaf. Some of you might take offense to me calling you or your kid a coward or refuting the argument that his or her recording of the locker room fight between the gym teacher and the student was meant to provide “proof” or “to make sure those responsible were identified.” Please; that never crossed your kid’s mind. What did though, is this: “Dude, dude, this will look awesome on Twitter.” Here is a bit for you to contemplate. I have yet to take care of a person who has been beaten to hell, whose first words were, “Gee, I hope someone recorded that.” Every time you watch a video of someone suffering, either by an accident, an assault, or even some fault of their own, know that the person on the other end of the camera is most likely doing little to stop it, exhibiting a callous disregard for the physical or emotional well being of the individual or their family. In many instances they compound the humiliation by either posting it or doing nothing to stop it. We have become cell phone cowards, a new generation of do-nothing iPhone peepers and creepers. One day perhaps you could be on the receiving end of one of these tragedies and your grief and your distress can be paraded for the whole world to see. And get a million likes if you’re lucky. Dr. Louis M. Profeta is an emergency physician practicing in Indianapolis. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Patient in Room Nine Says He's God. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/were-living-age-cell-phone-cowards-louis-m-profeta-md ~ Dr. Louis M. Profeta, Emergency physician & author