Books & Books and the Sylvester Cancer Center present…

Breakfast with Hope!

discussing

In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope

(Picador, $18)

Tuesday, October 27, 11 AM

REGISTER HERE FOR FREE

Wake up to a VIRTUAL BREAKFAST WITH HOPE, a monthly reading & discussion group hosted by Hope Torrents and sponsored by Sylvester Cancer Center!

THIS MONTH’S BOOK:

BUY THE BOOK HERE

About the Book:

A riveting first-hand account of a physician who’s suddenly a dying patient and her revelation of the horribly misguided standard of care in the medical world

Dr. Rana Awdish never imagined that an emergency trip to the hospital would result in hemorrhaging nearly all of her blood volume and losing her unborn first child. But after her first visit, Dr. Awdish spent months fighting for her life, enduring consecutive major surgeries and experiencing multiple overlapping organ failures. At each step of the recovery process, Awdish was faced with something even more unexpected: repeated cavalier behavior from her fellow physicians—indifference following human loss, disregard for anguish and suffering, and an exacting emotional distance.

Hauntingly perceptive and beautifully written, In Shock allows the reader to transform alongside Awidsh and watch what she discovers in our carefully-cultivated, yet often misguided, standard of care. Awdish comes to understand the fatal flaws in her profession and in her own past actions as a physician while achieving, through unflinching presence, a crystalline vision of a new and better possibility for us all.

As Dr. Awdish finds herself up against the same self-protective partitions she was trained to construct as a medical student and physician, she artfully illuminates the dysfunction of disconnection. Shatteringly personal, and yet wholly universal, she offers a brave road map for anyone navigating illness while presenting physicians with a new paradigm and rationale for embracing the emotional bond between doctor and patient.

Who is Hope?

Hope Torrents is the Museum Educator and Director of the Fine Art of Healthcare program at the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami where she’s worked since 1999. In 2010 her husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Over a six-year period Jordi was in and out of the hospital 45-50 times.

Hope’s own work with The Lowe Art Museum’s Fine Art of Healthcare is one step in preparing future healthcare providers to be better observers and communicators. The goal is for them to have a more holistic view of their patients and families. Hope’s interest in creating a book club on health and well-being was in part propelled by her conviction that, with the right training, those in the medical system can improve – especially in the fields of compassion, visual acuity, de-biasing, and collaboration.

What is Hope’s Book Club?

Hope has been facilitating discussions for the last 20 years. Now, she joins us to kick off a series of monthly discussions about her passion: health and well-being. After years of research and attending workshops at Harvard, Columbia and the University of Florida, Hope aims to tap into the interest that many of us have about our own health and well-being, and share her knowledge with our community.