The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope
by Allan J. Hamilton
List Price:
Our Price: $8.74
You Save: $15.21 (64%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.93 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Allan J. HamiltonForeword: Andrew Weil
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2008-03-13
ISBN: 1585426156
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Tarcher
Book Reviews of The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope
Book Review: An honest doctor story
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like books by Jerome Groopman and Atul Gawande, you may like this book. But this book focuses on the part of medicine we can't explain, rather than trying to explain more about medicine.
If you like your medical orientation the Andrew Weil way, you will probably like this book. Weil wrote the introduction and the author shares much or Weil's philosophy.
As others have noted, the best parts of the book are (a) the story about the woman who was supposed to die in 4 months; she lived to attend her doctor's own funeral and died at 88; and (b) the recommendations for ordinary people who become patients. I've always suspected we're better off if we stay away from hospitals and retain a healthy skepticism about doctors.
Readers may be concerned about the author's advice to pray with their doctors. Given the limited amount of time available to get questions answered, some of us might prefer to focus on topics that doctors are uniquely qualified to discuss. That whole area is controversial and it's one chapter I wish had been deleted from this book.
Generally, though, I recommend Scalpel and the Soul as yet another contribution to the "skeptical books about the medical profession written by doctors." A valuable corrective to those who continue to see doctors as the contemporary version of the Roman gods.
Summary of The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope
A Harvard-educated neurosurgeon reveals his experiences-in and out of the operating room-with apparitions, angels, exorcism, and after-death survival, and shares the lessons he learned.A young burn victim remains in a coma until a ghost appears.
A doctor discovers he can predict when a patient will die.
A clinically dead patient later recounts extraordinary details about the private lives of her caregivers.
A physician needs the help of a Navajo shaman to exorcise the spirit of his dead patient.
These things really happened-and neurosurgeon Allan J. Hamilton was involved in every one of them, and many more. Based on thirty years of medical experience, The Scalpel and the Soul tells the unspoken stories behind remarkable patients and strange events, and shares the moral and spiritual lessons found in them.
For physicians, supernatural inklings and intrusions are disturbing. Doctors cannot be candid with colleagues or patients because they are trained to disregard the inexplicable and unbelievable. They're taught to discount elusive, evanescent powers of the soul. Superstition, omens, and divine spirits smack of madness.
But patients have the same experiences. Life-threatening illness or surgery frequently brings dormant spirituality to life. The soul often needs more than intensive care alone can give. 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; it empowers patients to voice their spiritual needs when they seek medical help; and, finally, it addresses the mysterious, attractive powers the soul exerts during life-threatening events.
Alternative Medicine Books
- Health, Mind & Body
- Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Mental & Spiritual Healing
- Occult > ESP
- Medicine > Alternative & Holistic
- Professional & Technical > Medical > Alternative Medicine
- Health, Mind & Body: Alternative Medicine: General
- Religion & Spirituality: New Age: General
- Medicine: Alternative & Holistic: General
- Professional & Technical: Medical: Alternative Medicine: General
- Health, Mind & Body: General
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Alternative Medicine Books
Heal Your Bodyby Louise Hay
Hay House; Published: 1984-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.87
Price in other shops:
Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connectionby John E. Sarno
Warner Books; Published: 1991-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.79
Price in other shops:
The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure: A Holistic Approach to Total Recoveryby Chris Prentiss
Power Press; Published: 2005-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.54
Price in other shops:
The Master Cleanserby Stanley Burroughs
Burroughs Books; Published: 1976-04-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.40
Price in other shops:
The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hopeby Allan J. Hamilton
Tarcher; Published: 2008-03-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.75
Price in other shops:
The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief, Second Editionby Clair Davies, Amber Davies
New Harbinger Publications; Published: 2004-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Editionby Phyllis A. Balch
Avery; Published: 2006-10-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.88
Price in other shops:
DailyOM: Inspirational Thoughts for a Happy, Healthy, and Fulfilling Dayby Madisyn Taylor
Hay House; Published: 2008-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.55
Price in other shops:
You Can Heal Your Life (Gift Edition)by Louise Hay
Hay House; Published: 1999-09; Turtleback; Book
Best price: $9.93
Price in other shops:
The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignoreby Deepak Chopra
Harmony; Published: 2008-02-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Hello from Heaven: A New Field of Research-After-Death Communication Confirms That Life and Love Are Eternalby Bill Guggenheim, Judy Guggenheim
Bantam; Published: 1997-03-03; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.36
Price in other shops:
The Last Lectureby Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow
Hyperion; Published: 2008-04-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.38
Price in other shops:
The Six Keys to Unlock and Empower Your Mind: Spot Liars & Cheats, Negotiate Any Deal to Your Advantage, Win at the Office, Influence Friends, & Much Moreby Marc Salem
Rodale Books; Published: 2007-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.23
Price in other shops:
Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASAby Richard C. Hoagland, Mike Bara
Feral House; Published: 2007-10-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.88
Price in other shops:
The Spontaneous Healing of Belief: Shattering the Paradigm of False Limitsby Gregg Braden
Hay House; Published: 2008-04-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.92
Price in other shops:
The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the Worldby Lynne McTaggart
Free Press; Published: 2008-02-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops:
Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travelby Michio Kaku
Doubleday; Published: 2008-03-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.42
Price in other shops:
The Psychic Life of Abraham Lincolnby Susan B. Martinez
New Page Books; Published: 2007-10-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.67
Price in other shops:
The Big Book of Near Death Experiences: The Ultimate Guide to What Happens When We Dieby P. M. H. Atwater
Hampton Roads Pub Co; Published: 2007-10-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.54
Price in other shops:
Into the Light: Real Life Stories About Angelic Visits, Visions of the Afterlife, and Other Pre-Death Experiencesby John Lerma
New Page Books; Published: 2007-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops: