Walk on Water: The Miracle of Saving Children's Lives

I read this book while my son was still hospitalized due to his serious heart defect. We had already been thrown into the world of CHD and it was nice to read about others in the same position. It was a great insight to the surgeons and what really goes on in the OR. It might be too much for some parents to know all the details, but I am the person who wants to know it all. I couldn't put this book down. It was so well written and as it tells a story, it also gives great information about many types of heart defects. As I was finishing the book, my son was on his last attempt to extubate before they were going to do a tracheostomy. We were discouraged because they said he was doing so well and we would be home within 10 days, and then they said he would probably need a tracheostomy due to breathing problems from the heart defect. The last line of the book said something to the effect of "you are your child's ultimate advocate." After I read that I knew I had to go to the docs the next day and demand they give him more time to show them he could breathe on his own. It proved to be the right thing. After a long 99 day stay, mostly due to airway complications, our son came home within a couple weeks, without a tracheostomy.The book is not in my possession now, as many family members have asked to read it and it is making the rounds. It helps family members to understand CHD better, the surgeries, and what we have gone through. Can't say enough good about this book!

This is the third time I have purchased and read this book, and it moves me close to tears each time. Mark Ruhlman went to observe Dr. Roger Mee in 2000. Dr. Mee and his staff had saved the life of my son in 1996-97. Thanks to God and Dr. Mee my son is now 20 years old with a full life ahead of him. It was amazing to watch the miracles occur at the Cleveland Clinic.I hope that in the last 20 years there has been an improvement in the way parents and children get referred to the right surgeons for these perilous operations, but I fear that that improvement has not happened. In our case it was nothing but luck that we were delivered into the hands of Dr. Mee and his staff.If you want to read a well written book about how amazingly gifted people use their gifts to help babies, I recommend this book highly.

This book by Michael Ruhlman detailing the day to day work at Cleveland Children's Hospital is one of the best medical narritives that I've read. On par with "The Healing Blade" or "When the Air Hits Your Brain".Michael does a masterful job of telling both the technical/medical side of the story as well as the deeply human side of the patients and families throughout the book.Given my background (EMT) and my wife's (CardioVascular ICU RN in Milwaukee) we both agree that the facts are correct and showed a balanced view of the topic. Many times books of this type show only "glowing successes" rather here reality is shown in that not everyone gets better like on TV and lives happily ever after.Lastly, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Mee's Coordinator Deb Gilchrist at Ceveland Cinic shortly after finishing the book and she did bring up one point, the language was commented on by one reader and former patient as being too "rough". While I agree that the language is at times quite frank, the reality of the world is that these are real people and real life somtimes isn't neat and clean as we would like it to be. I don't see this as a reason to NOT read the book, however parents might want to be aware of this if children might be reading it.ALl in all and excellent work and definately 5 stars.

Great story and writing. Unfortunately, purchased new but arrived with a torn back cover. This was going to be a gift.

Amazing book! I have a child with CHD and this is the only hook I have found that fully captures the world you are thrown into when you have a heart baby. I've ready this book so many times and still learn something new with each read. This is a MUST READ for parents who have a child with any heart defect. I would also recommend it to anyone who enjoys the fascinati ng medical world at large. I'm so grateful to all that have devoted their life to caring for these precious kids.

I work in the field of pediatric cardiology, and a coworker recommended this book to me. To be honest, I was expecting a much less humble account from the perspective of the surgeon. I found "Walk on Water" to be a beautiful tribute to the complexity of congenital heart disease, as well as an intimate account of the family experience. It highlighted the inner workings of what it takes to operate on the hearts of small and fragile children, which I found fascinating -- however, it also highlighted the impact of the intra-op and post-op teams that keep these children alive.The technical jargon was, I feel, understandable and easy to comprehend. It might be a little difficult for a non-medical person, but Ruhlman provides decent explanations at every turn.Overall, a captivating look at a tiny subset of medicine.

I found this book outstanding. The author puts the time into providing a great deal of detail that really make you understand what's going on.Many people know what it feels like to have a sick child and hand them over to a surgeon, but this book will allow you to know how it feels from the other side of the equation and understand how the doctor feels about it.I've often wondered if doctors begin to see their work as just another job, but if all doctors are like the doctors written about in this book, then no, they do not..

Great read - an extremely well written and captivating book about what’s undoubtedly one of the most interesting fields.

Bellissimo! Un libro stupendo ed emozionante!!

Great book about a great master. Recall all the events perfectly