Mayday!: A Physician as Patient

by Allan Lohaus

[i]Mayday![/i] is a medical-odyssey journal of the thoughts, feelings, humor and spirituality of an American physician during months of hospitalization. Rising on swells of optimism and tugged down by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0975592297
• ISBN13: 9780975592298
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Synergy Books
• Length: 114 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Road to Convalescence

`Stand tall-think tall' was the advice of Allan Lohaus's physical therapist, as Dr. Lohuas was wanting in spirit while having just caught the road to convalescence. Earlier came in Dr. Lohuas's life course a painful period of intestinal surgeries and dependency on medical aid. As he came out of the nearly helpless anguish, memories of pain and distress became the subject matter of his short book May Day! A Physician as Patient (Synergy Books, Texas, 2006). Allan Lohuas himself was moved by the agony of his mother, a cancer patient, and he decided to become a doctor. Becoming a gynecologist was sparked by his observation of mothers losing their lives to death in the process of creation. `Salvaging infant life' was the spirit behind the choice. All went well till his late adolescence when abdominal pain struck him. Later a boat accident reserved him a place in hospital for months demanding patience and endurance. No doubt, the doctor's mettle was down as he witnessed his own decline. The psychological scars, however, that came with Dr. Lohuas's condition were deeper. A sudden reversal in social roles brings its shock. In Dr. Lohuas's case, the shock was stronger since it threw him into a writhing thing looking for someone who he himself was supposed to be. Enduring the pangs of silently watching a doctor operate on you is the crux of Dr. Lohuas's story. The stages of healing are always looking the patient's way; only the latter must keep hope: with family, friends, and memories of the good old days. Physical healing is not the only point in Mayday! As Dr. Lohuas finds during his illness, the spirit needs as much care as the diseased body. The doctor cum patient turned to prayer and feeling a superior being when his courage to cope with the pain started to yield. In the end, we read him drawing parallels between his regaining health and the Resurrection. It's this walking out of a nearly dead state that makes our patient a voice of hope. First-hand experience gives Dr. Lohuas's voice a genuine sound and his autobiographical nonfiction story is moving and strengthening. The great thing is that the convalescent doctor regains his humor. We do hear him calling his stool `bomb'.

Does a Physician make a good patient? - Read further to find out!

Does a physician make a good patient? Read the review and if you are convinced, the book to decide yourself! Swamy About the Book (From the inner flap) - Mayday! is a medical odyssey journal revealing the thought, feelings, humor and spirituality of an American physician during months of hopitalization. Rising on swells of optimism and tugged down by pain, infections, operations and adverse outcomes, he drifts through waters too deep to stand in and too dark for him to see hidden dangers. The illness ends in New Zealand, two years later. This body, mind, and spirit experience of dying and returning to health is a personal and universal journey. A little more about the book (as I understood after reading) - It is a good indepth account of the doctor's struggles with illness, fortunately for him, an acute problem and not chronic illness. He was operated for removal of some intestinal polyps and the post-operative infections and the resultant complications required three more surgeries to restore his body to a semblance of normalcy. What I liked about the book - The intensely personal narrative and the good style. Since it is a relatively short book, it could be read in a day. Since I always had an abiding interest in medical matters (though I became a metallurigst), I enjoyed reading the details of the treatment and the operative procedures, his emotions as he was struggling with pain and a very real chance of prolonged illness or death! What did not appeal to me - None. What else I would have liked to see - A fuller account of his younger days, and his own mom's struggle with Hodgkin's disease etc. His estrangement from his biological father probably pushed him to mature spiritually since he searched and found his father first in senior friends and later in God through Christ. I would also have liked to read a more detailed account of his treatment.

There Is Always Hope!

I have often wondered how doctors would feel if they were on the other side of the fence with illness. Unfortunately we have all had doctors, nurses and medical personal who are anything but compassionate; I don't know about you, but I have wanted to ask them how would they feel if they were undergoing what I was. In this work by author, Dr. Allan Lohaus, he takes us on his journey as a patient fighting for his life. From a healthy prosperous man to one who must rely on those of his own profession, we see through his eyes as he undergoes what so many have before him. He shares his thoughts on pain, suffering,sorrow, fear,frustration, support and lack of support, compassion, those who do not care, and those who do. Dr. Lohaus is frank and honest and the read I feel is a learning experience for doctors and patients as well. A different read, at times a difficult read emotionally, but an interesting read and one that will shed light on a myriad of topics concerning the sick and those who attend to them. Well done.

Getting the Wind Back in His Sails

Like Allan Lohaus himself, MAYDAY! is a multi-faceted gem of a book. It's a memoir, love story, and spiritual journey told from the unique perspective of a career physician who finds himself as a hospitalized patient facing multiple intestinal surgeries. MAYDAY! provides a very honest account of being on both sides of the medical fence. Lohaus is able to write about the most intimate of bodily functions with dignity, compassion and a sense of humor. He also writes insightfully about the physicians, health care professionals, family members, friends and God who help him along the long and arduous path to healing. One would not necessarily think of a memoir as being a page-turner, but this journal is. Lohaus shows that after navigating the roughest of waters, it is still possible to get the wind back in one's sails through care, faith and effort. There is so much packed into this remarkable and very-readable little book. I give it my highest recommendation.