Warrior Patient: A Review

***I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.***

The world we live in has the best doctors and the most advanced medical system that our civilization has ever known. 
Yet 100,000 patients die and nine million suffer injury every year. If medical mistakes were a disease, it would be the sixth leading cause of deaths in America. 
In this extraordinary age of medical miracles, patients continue to sink into the quicksand of “going to the hospital.” 
A cartoon makes a joke out of it. It shows a doctor in a laboratory, surrounded by white lab rats. “We don’t need better medicine,” he announces to his colleagues, “we need stronger lab rats.” 
As you read Warrior Patient you become one of the nine million who suffer injury every year. You take an extraordinary, often amusing journey into the quicksand of modern medicine. In the midst of a long list of life-threatening illnesses, you learn to laugh and you learn how to become a much stronger lab rat, a “Warrior Patient.” 
You take advantage of America’s fabulous medical system. You are not taken advantage of by that system. 
The story unfolds with humor and anecdotes that capture characters, times and places, from good doctors to bad ones, from childhood to old age, from Africa to Sweden. In the end, you fully recover. You live again. You have a life. Enjoy the trip.

My Review (5 stars): Warrior Patient details the medical journey of Temple Emmet Williams, from a fall on a tennis court to near-death experiences. It is told with dignity and grace and humor. Williams has a way of writing that draws the reader in. Once I started on the book, I didn't want to put it down. I found myself cheering him on and grinned every time the sarcasm/humor popped on the page. I sympathized with him because I know too well how much a doctor's lack of care and compassion can wreak havoc on someone's life. I was happy to discover that, after all the bungled mistakes made by the first round of medical caregivers, Williams was able to find a group of doctors that listened, worked together, and actually cared about him. I'm also glad he had such a strong, supportive wife to stand with him during all this. His love for her was evident throughout the book. The fact that Wiliams survived is a testament to his strength, courage, and support of those around him. I would recommend Warrior Patient to anyone who is going through their own medical journey, knows someone who is, or anyone wanting a light-hearted, pick-me-up survivor's tale.

About Temple Emmet Williams: Temple was born in Cleveland, Ohio, educated at The Hotchkiss School and Yale University. As a journalist he received two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize as an undercover reporter at the World-Telegram & Sun in New York City. He was the Managing Editor of an international news magazine, News/Check, in Africa. He worked as an Editor at the Reader's Digest. He was a copywriter and creative director for large ad agencies around the world. He lived in Africa for 6 years and in Europe almost as long. He and his wife currently live in Boca Raton, Florida.

You can buy Warrior Patient on Amazon and visit the book's website here.