Surgeon’s Story: Inside OR-1 with One of America’s Top Pediatric Heart Surgeons by Mark Oristano

Dr Kristine Guleserian is a paediatric heart surgeon, and this fascinating book gives the reader a glimpse into her life, career, cases, and what has made her the incredible person she is today.

Congenital heart disease affects approximately 35,000 new born babies in the US alone each year, although it may not reveal itself straight away, sometimes never.

The problem may be discovered at, or just after birth, however, as medical techniques advance problems can be detected whilst the baby is still in the womb, and, if necessary a medical team can be in place to perform surgery straight away.

Like many remarkable people, Dr G, as she is known throughout the book, is humble and does not seek fame, ‘she’s a surgeon, not a writer,’ the author quotes (despite her numerous medical articles), and so he has the honour of shadowing this amazing lady, and telling her story.

I can promise the reader that they will find this book absolutely fascinating and heart-wrenching, as they follow the medical journeys of some of her young patients, discover the problems they faced, and how they were overcome, by Dr G and her amazing team.

One case in particular, I read with a mixture of dread, fear, anticipation and joy, the life journey of little Rylynn, which started pre-birth in the womb of her mother Andrea. Bonding through the story with her parents, having been the mother of a 13 week premature daughter who was born only weighing .635 of a gram, and is now 29 years old. I found it incredibly easy to slip back through the years to the time when I slept on a bed next to hers, and life echoed to the beeps of various monitors…

However Dr G doesn’t just make the dreams and prayers of her patients and their families come true, she also has that amazing capacity, which people in her profession have, of going the extra mile. A shining example of this is in the story of 13 year old Andrew Madden a patient who has a special none medical bond with her, and who attracts the attention of the media by being the 100^th heart transplant at the Children’s Medical Center.

Getting personal, she recalls her childhood for the author, and we learn that her calling came at a very early age and was influenced by family and childhood incidents. With a passion for learning, and a loved Greek classics, sports, languages and music, this enquiring and knowledge hungry mind meant that she naturally enjoyed studying. This would prove an essential quality in the years to come, as she graduates from Harvard, and spends many years perfecting her knowledge in her chosen profession. To this day she maintains that you can never afford to stop learning.

Indeed as we look at her work, it is enlightening to see her life through the eyes of the patients, their relatives, her teams, and the students who are lucky enough to learn from her.

Whether you have an interest in pediatric heart problems, love the opportunity to peek into someone else’s life, or are considering a career in the medical profession, this book makes compelling reading. The volume of information and human interest content will have you riveted to every single page.

About the Author: Mark is a 35-year veteran sportscaster whose assignments have included work on the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers radio networks. Mark was one of the broadcasters for Super Bowl XXX between the Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s also worked for NFL Films, the Dallas Cowboys P.R. department, and numerous radio and TV stations.

His first book, A SPORTSCASTER’S GUIDE TO WATCHING FOOTBALL, was published in 2009.

This spring, Mark’s new book, SURGEON’S STORY, will publish. It’s the story of Kristine Guleserian, a pediatric heart surgeon at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, a story filled with drama, and a special kind of caring all too absent from modern medicine.

Mark’s on-air colleagues have included Verne Lundquist, now the CBS voice of college football, who hired Mark at WFAA-TV, Dallas in 1973; Oprah Winfrey, with whom Mark co-anchored in Nashville at WLAC-TV in 1974-75; Ron Franklin, now with ESPN, who shared the Oiler radio booth with Mark from 1978-1981.

Mark was born in New York City in 1952, and moved to Texas in 1970 to attend Texas Christian University, gaining a BFA in Mass Communication in 1974.

He left broadcasting in 2002, and is currently a much sought-after portrait photographer in Dallas, as well as a successful actor. His daughter Stacey lives in L.A., and continues the family football tradition as a cast member on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS on NBC-TV.

About the Book: SURGEON’S STORY is your passport into OR-1, the cardiac surgical suite at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. You’ll be there as Dr. Kristine Guleserian, noted pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, fixes the tiny hearts of the tiniest children. Follow the young boy who gets a new heart and then, three weeks later, joins Dr. Guleserian on the mound at Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch at a World Series game. Discover the years of training Dr. G went through to become the highly respected surgeon she is today. See how her warmth, humor, intelligence and dedication provide a shining example of what is good about the American health care system. To get a closer look than this, you’d have to scrub in.

Available from Amazon in Kindle format https://www.amazon.com/Surgeons-Story-1-Americas-Pediatric-ebook/dp...

and Barnes & Noble in Paperback http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/surgeons-story-mark-oristano/112602...

NOOK Book http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/surgeons-story-mark-oristano/112602...

and Hardcover http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/surgeons-story-mark-oristano/112602...