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jahnadv's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Medical content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Vomit, and Medical trauma
saritamargarita's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
3.5
I'm not usually a memoir reader so the fact that this was able to keep my interest is commendable. I think it's inspirational and a solid reminder of how important research is. But the "he'll either recover or he'll die" thing was repeated so many times that it lessened the tension a bit. Also the author's writing was *so* gen x and it took me out of the story sometimes. Overall, though, it was very engaging and had a good balance between telling the story and explaining the science.
michalow's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this book was going to be about phage. It is, but it takes 140 pages to get there. The science parts of this book are really interesting and well described -- accessible to lay readers without oversimplifying. The personal story is gripping, but also repetitive and sometimes clumsily told. I can't fault the authors for documenting their harrowing experience however they choose. But as a reader, I think I would have preferred a tightly edited magazine article.
dylan_tomorrow's review against another edition
5.0
Best nonfiction book I've read so far. Fascinating, gripping, tearjerking, fierce, inspirational, touching, raw, blunt, hopeful, grim, striking, spiritual, unvarnished, human, on the shoulders of giants.
I hope that phage therapy will indeed become a viable therapy next to antibiotics and other potential future treatments like quorum sensing inhibitors, bacteriocenes, antimicrobial peptides and others. It'll be crucial to not just insist on antibiotic stewardship, but phage stewardship and stewardship of all antimicrobial medicines to prevent the emergence of new multi resistances as much as possible.
I hope that phage therapy will indeed become a viable therapy next to antibiotics and other potential future treatments like quorum sensing inhibitors, bacteriocenes, antimicrobial peptides and others. It'll be crucial to not just insist on antibiotic stewardship, but phage stewardship and stewardship of all antimicrobial medicines to prevent the emergence of new multi resistances as much as possible.
aallen820's review against another edition
4.0
This was an amazing story of using innovative medical technology to save a man's life. With the discovery of penicillin and advent of antibiotics medical professionals had a fantastic new tool to fight bacterial infections. Unfortunately, their use has not been endeavored upon as responsibly as could have been with the result of bacteria developing resistance to multiple drugs and leaving the world with superbugs such as Acinetobactor and other ESKAPE pathogens that are very difficult to fight.
Thankfully, another way of attacking bacteria comes in the form of phages which are basically viruses. Science has known about them for 100 years but they weren't widely used for medical purposes outside of a phage center in Georgia and Poland and virtually not at all in the United States. Through collaboration with people all across the world a crack team of scientists from Texas A&M the Navy and even international collaboration were able to develop phage cocktails that were used to attack the Acinetobactor and give Dr. Patterson the opportunity to recover. After going through numerous septic shocks and spending months upon months in the ICU, he finally began to make progress with the help of many doctors, scientists, the FDA approving the emergency treatment, and other medical professionals and was discharged after 9 months in the hospital.
Now phage therapy is occurring more frequently in the United States and has had positive impact on people's medical outcomes. There is the potential for more clinical trials which could offer another tool in the fight against superbugs.
The book has lots of information and history about the science aspect of the scenario but also provides good humanizing details for the author, her husband, and the rest of their family and what it was like to go through such a traumatic and drawn out ordeal with the likelihood of him dying and then recovering. I did find it interesting that though they are both scientists that they seemed to lean into new age spiritualism, vibes, and consulting with a psychic rather than more traditional religious belief systems.
Thankfully, another way of attacking bacteria comes in the form of phages which are basically viruses. Science has known about them for 100 years but they weren't widely used for medical purposes outside of a phage center in Georgia and Poland and virtually not at all in the United States. Through collaboration with people all across the world a crack team of scientists from Texas A&M the Navy and even international collaboration were able to develop phage cocktails that were used to attack the Acinetobactor and give Dr. Patterson the opportunity to recover. After going through numerous septic shocks and spending months upon months in the ICU, he finally began to make progress with the help of many doctors, scientists, the FDA approving the emergency treatment, and other medical professionals and was discharged after 9 months in the hospital.
Now phage therapy is occurring more frequently in the United States and has had positive impact on people's medical outcomes. There is the potential for more clinical trials which could offer another tool in the fight against superbugs.
The book has lots of information and history about the science aspect of the scenario but also provides good humanizing details for the author, her husband, and the rest of their family and what it was like to go through such a traumatic and drawn out ordeal with the likelihood of him dying and then recovering. I did find it interesting that though they are both scientists that they seemed to lean into new age spiritualism, vibes, and consulting with a psychic rather than more traditional religious belief systems.
craftycarolynrose's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0