Talking with Doctors, a memoir by David Newman,
follows the author’s dizzying journey to find a physician and treatment plan after
being diagnosed with a rare malignant tumor perched dangerously near his brain
stem. Despite the author’s education, money, connections and geographic
privilege (Mr. Newman is a New Yorker surrounded by “the best” hospitals and
the “the best” doctors), he finds himself struggling to make any sense of the
conflicting medical advice he receives. The vertigo induced by the deluge of
advice he gathers in his countless trips to multiple medical centers, is only
exacerbated by the egotism and childishness of some of the doctors he sees. The
indecencies range from the routine—waiting hours for doctors that are running
behind schedule—to the utterly bizarre—a doctor returning Mr. Newman’s $10
copay as a gesture of good will after explaining that his tumor was inoperable
and would likely be fatal.
Mr.
Newman’s career as a psychotherapist is intimately interwoven into the fabric
of the memoir. His analytical eye strongly informs his search for a physician
whom he can trust. Moreover, knitted into the narrative is Mr. Newman’s
experience with his own patients whom he is forced to refer to other
therapists while he is receiving treatment.
Coloring
the tone of the entire memoir is the fact that Mr. Newman has survived the
tumor around which the memoir is framed. Nonetheless, Talking with Doctors is a harrowing and suspenseful read.
