A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness

It was very informational about the various side effects that gradually get worse as time goes on after direct exposure to radiation. It also did a good job of explaining how the patient, Mr. Ouchi, felt during the procedures and the grief his family felt as he got worse. I recommend!

There can be no spoiler alert here, as the title tells you the end of the story. Also, the vibrant yellow blocks on the book cover gradually turn a sickly green. The 83rd block is black. Goodbye. I read "A Slow Death" in two hours and have been disturbed about it ever since. Despite the efforts of some of the world's most talented and compassionate medical professionals, Mr. Ouchi was doomed from the blue flash. This book describes the hope of success and the grim progression of the inevitable. Intricate medical procedures and nuclear physics were explained in a way that did not bore or confuse me, and did not cause me to lose sight of the humanity of the suffering patient. After watching some Cold War movies I was interested in learning about what happened to people who were exposed to high levels of radiation. In the movies people grew pale, threw up a lot, and died; I knew that couldn't be the entire story. Radiation Sickness is described on the internet as including things like vomiting, hair loss, skin hemorrhages, bleeding, loss of white blood cells, pain, delirium and often death, but that seemed vague. This book, however, explained in detail how these symptoms (and several unexpected others) actually played out in the life of a thirty-five year old husband and father. Afterwards I felt a little guilty for reading it and peering into the window of such agony just to satisfy my curiosity. The gentle and amiable patient did not realize for several days that he was what is termed a "walking ghost". While he appeared to be fine for a while, all of his cells were damaged and his death was certain. Pain medication to make him comfortable when symptoms arose would have ordinarily been the only intervention while awaiting the inevitable, but in his case the hospital staff and his family did not tell him that he received a lethal dose and maintained that fiction almost until the day he died. The doctors kept giving him transplants, transfusions, skin grafts, injections and cardiac massage -- a heroic effort overall -- to keep him alive until maybe something would actually help. Since severe radiation sickness is not common, these folks had no real idea what they could do and dealt with symptoms as they arose. And arose. And arose. The fact that Mr. Ouchi survived for months is nothing short of amazing, but perhaps honor and hope came at too high a cost: his incomprehensible CONSCIOUS suffering. Despite the horrific subject, the book was engaging. I came to care about all of the real people involved. I think I learned a lot. I'm glad I read it, and intend to read it again more slowly.