Almost Home: Stories of Hope and the Human Spirit in the Neonatal ICU

Each baby's story was unique and moving. I didn't want the book to end.

As a neonatologist for almost 30 years, I would like to offer my congratulations to Dr. Gleason on her book Almost Home. Somewhat reminiscent of Michael Chrichton's Five Patients, Almost Home contains real life memories of patients cared for by the author, the travails of the patients and their families and the emotional turmoil faced by the patients and their physician. It provides great insight into the specialty of neonatology and challenges faced during training to become a neonatologist. THe author, Dr. Gleason is truly one of the outstanding leaders of our field. I plan to recommend her book to families of my patients and trainees (fellows, residents, medical and even undergraduate students) thinking about neonatology as a subspecialty. Josef Neu, MD Professor of Pediatrics/Neonatology University of Florida

This book is a very good read for anyone who cares to gain an understanding of the joys and sadnesses that permeate the lives of the patients and parents who inhabit a NICU. Additonally, the author was able to communicate a very accurate picture of the stresses,uncertainties, and rewards experienced by a compassionate neonatal physcian.

In terms of content, "Almost Home" is an honest, heart warming and (at times) tear jerking novel. I don't want to spoil this brilliant book for anyone, so I will simply finish with saying: I would highly recommended this book.

I decided to read this book because I wanted to learn more about what preemie parents went through, in the hope that I might be able to better comfort someone going through this experience. Having had two pregnancies that both yielded full-term healthly children, I felt that I couldn't even begin to understand preemie parents' feelings and fears. This book has taught me so much. I know I can never fully know how these parents must feel, but this book has revealed the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) world to me in a way that only a doctor experiencing it with those parents can. Dr. Gleason's caring and sensitive approach to these infants AND their parents is heartwarming. Some of the stories have happy endings, some don't. But Dr. Gleason tells each one in such a way as to make it seem like the most important case of her career. It's really interesting to read about her fears in the beginning of her career about not being good enough...so humanizing...and she also weaves in some of her own life story through the stories of her life in the NICU. A great read that leaves you wanting to read more about this fantastic doctor's work.