The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness

If I had to sum up THE ANATOMY OF HOPE in one sentence, this would be it: this amazing book will make you sing. I would have finished it the day it arrived in the mail had I not had a house guest I had to tend to. After finishing the book the next night, I was so hyped up that I couldn't go to sleep for hours. I wanted to give it to everyone I care about, including my doctor.Dr. Groopman discusses hope and its impact on the ability of patients to fight serious, sometimes life-threatening illnesses. He gives the examples of several patients of his over the years and the effect that hope had on their recovery from illness. He also traces his own growth in helping patients. Dr. Groopman learns how to relate to patients through trial and error. "I was still feeling my way on how to communicate a poor prognosis to patients and their families. Not once during my schooling, internship, or residency had I been instructed in the skill." The first patient he discusses, Esther, he saw while he was still a medical student. She believed she deserved to have breast cancer because she had had an extra-marital affair. He later learned that she sought treatment too late and died at the age of thirty-four. Dr. Groopman assists another doctor with the treatment of the second patient. She interprets "remission" as a cure for a serious malignancy. The other physician had given her part of the truth but not the whole truth. When she ultimately learns she is dying, she and her family are angry at the doctor. "I guess he [the doctor] doesn't think people like us are smart enough, or strong enough, to handle the truth."Along Dr. Groopman's journey, he encounters a physician patient who insists on a difficult and painful treatment that Dr. Groopman didn't recommend. This patient was alive many years after his cure. "It took George Griffin [the doctor patient] to teach me that omniscience about life and death is not within a physician's purview. A doctor should never write off a person a priori." There is a Vietnam veteran seriously ill with a cancer that calls for immediate treatment or he will surely die. The patient is obstinate about not having therapy, that it will not work. Dr. Groopman is able to bargain with him. The patient has the right to stop treatment at any time and must understand that he is in the "driver's seat" all the way.The most poignant patient for me was Barbara, a 67 year-old woman whose breast cancer has metastasized. We meet her in the chapter called "Undying Hope." The good doctor probably would say that he learns far more from her than she gets from him although he of course gives the patient his best. After many months of harrowing treatment, she does not want to stop, however. "'There are many moments during the day that still give me pleasure,'she said. 'Let's keep going.'" The moment comes when the doctor must tell Barbara that there is nothing else he can offer to help her. After "heavy silence," she responds that he can still give her the "medicine of friendship." The patient ultimately dies. "Although I had expected this outcome for quite some time, I felt a gnawing pain of loss. I accepted that medicine had its limits. It was just that I cared for her so much; it was impossible not to. But I also felt deep gratitude. Barbara had opened herself to me in a way no patient had before. A patient's revelation of her deepest feelings and thoughts is one of the most previous gifts a doctor can receive. It has happened with me when I have reached the level of relationship I did with Barbara, of friendship beyond the professional." And finally, "there are some patients whom a doctor grows to love. . . Barbara had sparked that love in me."The author is not talking here about false hope, denial or the information that the Louise Hays of the world dispense when they blame the victim, that patients who don't get better have a need not to and are weak individuals. I still remember someone saying about a friend with AIDS in the 80's who had come down with pneumonia: "I refuse to go to see him because he had a need to get pneumonia." (This kind of thinking is maddening.) The author gives us hard data and looks at the changes in the brain when we have hope: "It turns out that we have our own natural forms of morphine--within our brains are chemicals akin to opiates. These chemicals are called 'endorphins' and 'enkephalins.' Belief and expectation, cardinal components of hope, can block pain by releasing the brain's endorphins and enkephalins, thereby mimicking the effects of morphine."Dr. Groopman is obviously a brilliant and competent practitioner, but he is also wise beyond measure. "I try hard to let patients read in my eyes that there is true hope for them. . . Doctors are fallible, not only in how they wield a scalpel or prescribe a drug but in the language they use." So much wisdom here, much about faith and how it differs from hope. At one point the doctor says that hope has wings. I wonder if he knew that the poet Emily Dickinson said that "hope is the thing with feathers."I repeat: this amazing book will make you sing.

I bought this book after recently being diagnosed with a brain tumor. At this point, too small to tell if it's benign or malignant. Another scan due in August. Before reading the book,and having the diagnosis, I always thought quality of life was more important than quantity.I am a nurse too. I always thought if I was diagnosed with stage 4 anything,(last stage)I would opt to do nothing. Just enjoy the time I had left, the best I could. But now after reading the book, I think I might seek aggressive treatment in hopes I could be like the occasional person who survives for years in spite of the odds against them. Some of them even cured. I think what each one of us has to ask ourselves if we are faced with a terminal diagnosis, am I up for the fight? It will take quite a bit of suffering to find out if you may be the exception,not everyone has the strength to do this. And even after aggressive treatment & a positive mind set, the person may still not survive. The book gave me a lot of hope about the mind/body connection & the power of the body to heal itself.Definitely worth reading. The fear you have when you find out you have possible terminal disease is overwhelming, but what my Dr said to me helped so much "just take one day @ a time" It has been a month since my diagnosis, & I am feeling better but I still have my moments, but then when I get afraid or depressed, I think, hey I am alive, still enjoying my life. There are so many others in this world so much worse off than I am. Hope is the most important thing there is besides Love. Don't let anyone take your hope away.

We know hope impacts one's emotions. But it also affects our physical being. I bought this book to learn about the BIOLOGY of hope. Written by an oncologist and citing actual patient cases (mostly cancer), Dr. Groopman explores the role of hope in fighting disease and healing.The latter part of the book interested me the most. It documents the positive physiological responses evoked by hope. Top scientists are interviewed who study the biological link between emotion and biological responses. The most relevant studies on the subject are reviewed. We learn that there's more to hope than we thought. Hope triggers biochemical changes. Biochemical changes can fight disease.Dr Groopman shows how hope, belief and expectations can alter the course of our lives, and even of our physical body. Good news for any patient dealing with a serious health condition.We recommend this book to readers on our website, Atrial Fibrillation: Resources for Patients, A-Fib.com on our 'A-Fib Positive Thoughts & Prayer Group' page (http://a-fib.com/a-fib-prayer-group/).Patti RyanEditor and Publisher, A-Fib.comThe Healing Power of Thoughts and Prayer

The author is a hematologist/oncologist who is not afraid to tell you about the mistakes he made s along his path to becoming a high-profile and much sought after cancer doctor. He really lets you in on what he was thinking when he made each decision (good and bad), and what unique lessons he learned from each of his patients. He discerns, patient by patient, which facets of their characters allow them to become "exceptional" patients, and the means by which exceptional patients ultimately become successful.But be warned: success does not always mean that "exceptional" patients live. In the area of cancer, some do not survive. Instead, Dr. Groopman redefines success by observing the common similarities of the patients who are able to weather the storms of their illnesses without losing themselves along the way. These patients find a way to remain grounded, less fearful and more able to retain their pre-illness character-traits no matter where their paths may lead them...and THAT is where the success lies. The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness

Interesting read

Should you find yourself in the situation of a medical catastrophe, such as I have, this wonderful text is just what you need to determine if "hope" is right for you.Well done Jerome Groopman and thank you very much

Worth reading

Vividly illustrates the events

ダニエル・ゴットリーブというアメリカの心理学者の"Letters to Sam"というエッセイ集（邦訳『人生という名の手紙』）で紹介されていた本です。ハーバード大学の血液内科・腫瘍学（結局、さまざまなタイプの癌の治療が中心）の大家が、その臨床経験を通じて、患者の治癒に「希望」という「非科学的なもの？」が果たす役割に気づき、自分の体験も含めて医学的な目から記した著書です。医療関係者の方々にも、是非読んでいただきたいですが、一歩間違えば絶望が待っている、現代社会で生きるすべての人に、本物の「希望」とは何かを考えるために読んでほしい本です。医学用語も出てきますから、辞書は手放せませんが、英語の文体自体は、さすがお医者様。明快で読みやすいです。