The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope

On February 13, 2003 I had brain tumor surgery that was supposed to take four hours. The surgery lasted five hours... then six hours... then seven hours... then eight ½ hours. Unbeknownst to me, when they removed the tumor, underneath it was a "stump", that had not appeared in any of the pre-surgery MRI's, and when the Doctor started to remove it; there was severe bleeding in my brain. All of this of course was unknown to me. Not just during the surgery, but after I was blessed by the Lord and allowed to survive and eventually go home, I was not told by my twenty-three-year-old son Justin for a couple of weeks. Even if he would have told me during the first week, I wouldn't have been able to comprehend what he was telling me. I didn't know what a bagel was, despite having two bagels and cream cheese for lunch every single day of my life for the last ten years. I didn't know what Jello was. During the first week at home while Justin was helping me dress and undress, I wanted to thank him from the bottom of my heart for the loving care he was giving me. On my dresser in my bedroom I had always kept a Thank You Card my son had given me when he graduated high school five years earlier. In it he had said: "Dad, I wanted to drop you a line to say thanks for everything. You have always stuck by me on any decision I made, right or WRONG. I don't know where I would be without you; on this bumpy road I call life. Thanks for always being there for me!" "I LOVE YOU! JUSTIN". With every fiber in my body and soul, I was trying to point to the card on the dresser and tell him now; I want to thank you... but I couldn't remember what a dresser was! Before the surgery I told Justin I wasn't afraid to die, as long as I could say goodbye. I also told him that throughout my entire life I had always been so proud of what I had accomplished on a basketball court and that I was the best computer/software salesman in the world; but now as I faced death, I realized that the man he'd become, was my greatest accomplishment. I had always been blessed with a really quick mind and told Justin and the brain surgeon that if I wound up as a "mind-locked-inside-a-body" I would rather die. After about a week at home my mind started to come back and within two weeks my blessing was continued as I got my memory and quickness back. I feel I was saved for a reason. And that is to help anyone I can who is going to face brain surgery. I feel I can help a patient and their family prepare for what they're going to face better than any Doctor can. The author Allan J. Hamilton was an accomplished neurosurgeon and is now a professor of neurosurgery and a clinical professor at AHSC. He takes us through his early life and tells us with a "light" humorous touch how he went from being a painting student in college to an English major. One of his early post college jobs was in research and training of raptors to swoop down and kill pigeons so they wouldn't fly into the jet engines of military

A five-star rating is not enough for this book, but the system will not allow more. A 2005 survey of physicians found that 76 percent believe in God and 59 percent believe in an afterlife. Those numbers were quite surprising to me, as I would have expected them to be much less. They are also a little confusing in suggesting that some physicians believe in God without an afterlife. Whatever the numbers, few doctors have the courage to go public with their views. It is simply not the "intelligent" and scientific thing to do. That is definitely not the case with Dr. Allan J. Hamilton, the author of this book. "The truth is that I pity the physician who cannot envision medical science as an integral part of God's creation," he offers. "I worry about a doctor who cannot see healing as an extension of God's love. Religious faith does not threaten scientific integrity..." Hamilton discusses such phenomena as near-death experiences, death-bed visions, and shamanistic healing. But not all the chapters deal with paranormal phenomena. Some are intriguing stories of faith, hope, and charity recorded by Hamilton during his illustrious career as a neurosurgeon specializing in brain tumors. It was a career that had him tending to patients in the jungles of Africa and the snow caps of Alaska before settling down in the dry flatlands of Arizona. The concluding chapter should give the skeptic much to ponder. It is about a woman who was "dead" by every clinical criterion used in medicine - her was heart stopped and brain waves disappeared. Yet, she later related conversations that went on among the operating room personnel while she was clinically dead. It is much like the famous "Pam Reynolds" case, but in some respects more evidential of a separation of mind from brain. "In fact, this particular patient's consciousness seemed to thrive despite substantial evidence that her brain was concurrently dead, incapable of generating a single electrical impulse," Hamilton states. The book is inspirational, educational, intriguing and entertaining. I intend to buy copies for my two daughters, both registered nurses. My guess is that they can learn more from this book than from a year of graduate study.

Quite simply, this is a fantastic read. Like any good book, Scalpel and the Soul takes you on a journey; a journey that masterfully weaves the yin of modern medicine with the yang of spirituality. Dr. Hamilton's ability to make his stories come alive via superb prose is without doubt the high point of Scalpel. I am very much a layman when it comes to all things medicine, but I couldn't help but think I was at his side during the most dramatic, inspiring, and heart-wrenching moments of his life and career. This is as good a page-turner as I've come across lately. I'd submit that Scalpel ought to be required reading for all who've stood above operating tables, all who've laid upon them, and anyone in search of a powerful spiritual journey.

Not being an avid reader or in the medical field, I could not put this book down. The Scalpel and the Soul is inspiring and intriguing. I felt like I was in the room with each patient, I shared smiles and tears with every chapter. This is a must read for one and all. Dr. Allan Hamilton is truly a phenomenal author and individual. Overall, when you finish the book, the only word that comes to mind is MARVELOUS!!!!

This book, quite literally, is amazing. Hamilton is a Dr. that you wish was your own, someone who deeply cares about not only healing you physically, but emotionally as well. It becomes apparent early on that Hamilton takes healing very seriously and has ideas in store for the reader that prepare the mind for dealing with the realm of the unknown that is medical care. This book is an ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY read for anyone who is battling cancer, or any loved ones. Some of the stories contain within the pages of "The Scalpel and the Soul" are going to move you to tears, undoubtedly. Yet, you will finish the book feeling spiritually cleansed in a way. It's hard to explain, but this book really is astoundingly good and one that certainly should find it's way into your checkout cart immediately.