I'm very sorry I didn't get a chance to read it before it expired. I'll be looking for it when it publishes! Thanks for approving my request.

I highly recommend this book! It tells about medicine yet is written for non-medical people. The author explains what we know and what we have yet to learn about anesthesia, with just the right amount of medical description. I learned about the history of anesthesia and how it made modern surgery possible, and how the anesthesiologist is in charge of the operating room even more so than the surgeon.

The author's personal dedication to being the best doctor possible and his care for his patients shines through in his descriptions of his interesting cases. His writing style is friendly and understandable; I think that he would be very interesting to sit and talk with.

This book is excellent for anyone interested in medicine, science, or what happens when we undergo anesthesia. I think it will be great for students who are considering a career in medicine -- and may make some aspiring surgeons decide to become anesthesiologists instead!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

There is nothing as fascinating as anesthesia. The very idea of being in a state where your insides could be cut, manipulated, and sewn back together is mind-blowing; yet this happens on a daily basis all over the world. COUNTING BACKWARDS is the personal account of a person with intimate knowledge and respect for this phenomenon.

He shares stories of the good, the bad, and the ugly surgeries that he has overseen. From babies to gorillas, he has seen more than his share. The book is not just medical jargon; he recounts his interactions with patients and shares some of his most intimate thoughts with us. We learn what his routine is when setting up for a surgery – and why it never varies. We learn the history and development of anesthesia drugs – and why he creates a new plan for each patient. Dr Przybylo is a caring and meticulous man, one that I would want in the surgery suite with me.

This memoir came about when he enrolled in the MFA program at Goucher College; a step that is admirable and daunting. His professors must have loved encouraging and developing his writing style, as the story flows as smoothly as isoflurane into the lungs. The good doctor draws from his years of experience as he discusses patients, medicine, and humanity. Each story has a moral of sorts – they don’t always have a happy ending – but there is always a lesson to be learned.

It takes a special person to have the intelligence to understand the workings of anesthesia, while also possessing the compassion to care for people. The human race can be a frustrating and ugly bunch while sick and/or scared – I’ve been one of those people a few times. Dr Przybylo is kind enough, as well as strong enough, and that is what made this book stand out for me. There was just enough anesthetic detail and gore to keep me interested, while keeping the human condition firmly front and center. This book would be a wonderful addition to someone’s medical library.

I am always interested in any books related to the medical field and this sounded like a great one. I’ve had several surgeries and I’ve always wondered what it must be like to be the anesthesiologist, the one who really holds your life in his or her hand!

What I loved about this book were his descriptions of interactions with his pediatric patients. He seems to have figured out a way to calm his patients so they aren’t so fearful about being “put under”. He has to deal with all sorts of children, some who have had multiple surgeries try to come up with a way to stop the procedure. There is a section about a little boy who tries to convince the doctor that “I had Cap’n Crunch” cereal, which of course is not allowed before the induction of anesthesia. Dr. Jay spent so much time trying to verify with the nurses that he had nothing to eat that morning only to find out later that the little boy had taken some cereal from another patient’s breakfast. Wow, dealing with kids has to be difficult!

There were times where I did lose some interest in the book when he was talking about the history of anesthesia, how it all works, even the “philosophy” of anesthesia. Perhaps some of the technical parts of the book could have been shortened or omitted to make the book flow a little better.

My very favorite part of the book, because I’m an animal lover, has to be the special case where he and his fellow physicians completed an operation on a gorilla, Tabibu, to be exact. She was very ill with a GI issue and would have died without the operation. Dr. Jay surprised his daughter, who dreams of becoming an animal nurse, and leads her into the recovery area where Tabibu was being cared for. His daughter was awed by the experience of being able to touch and stroke the gorilla and trying to comfort her. Dr. Jay stated “Most amazing to me, however, was watching Annie hold Tabibu and comfort this magnificent animal. It left me in awe. What joy. “

I would recommend this book as a very good memoir, well written, about an anesthesiologist who cares deeply for his patients!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley.
Have also posted to Amazon

An interesting account about the history and use of anesthesia written by an anesthesiologist. I was interested in reading the book because of my fascination with the effects on the mind of anesthesia and drugs that induce amnesia. While the books did not go as deeply into this subject as I would have liked, there was a lot of interesting information. It was not particularly readable unfortunately.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

Medical professions are often glamorized, both on TV and in real life, so it’s always interesting to read from the perspective of someone who actually does work in a hospital, especially as an anesthesiologist. Anesthesia is not well understood, and it is certainly an intimidating area of medicine, so I felt sure that this would be fascinating.

It didn’t take me long to realize that this was not the book for me. It relied on a simile heavy writing style that personally did not agree with me. Within the span of a page, the operating room was compared to a place of worship, the author compared himself to a pilot, and then the entire operation was likened to a clock. While interesting, I ultimately felt disappointed in the amount of information covered in this book as well as the impersonal style.

Absolutely fascinating book on the little-known world of anesthesia. The author skillfully recounts the history of anesthesia through modern day practices (without an anesthetic-like effect on the reader), while incorporating his own experiences as an anesthesiologist throughout the book. Written in a down-to-earth and composed manner, easy to understand and brings some comfort should one need to undergo surgery.

Anesthesiologist/author Przybylo takes readers beyond the forbidden operating room doors into the O.R. itself. In a calm, warm tone, the author details how patients are given anesthesia prior to medical procedures and the myriad of ways in which they differ. He deftly includes the history of anesthesia, from the discovery of ether to more modern ways of blocking pain and alleviating pre-surgery anxiety. Wonderful book for those skittish about undergoing surgery.