Fascinomas - Fascinating Medical Mysteries
“A quick and enjoyable book of health-related who-and whodunits.”
Kirkus Reviews
A paralyzed teen recovers overnight. A woman complains her breast implants speak. A man and his dog become gravely ill at the exact same time. These strange real-life cases and many more can be found in author and physician Clifton K. Meador’s newest collection, Fascinomas. Combining the word “fascinating” with the term for a tumor or growth, “fascinoma” is medical slang for an unusually interesting medical case. These are the extraordinary stories medical professionals recall forever and pass from one colleague to another in hospital lounges and hallways. Every medical professional has at least one fascinoma to tell, and in this collection of bizarre-but-true stories, Meador retells some of the most memorable. In the vein of Berton Roueché, the famed medical writer for The New Yorker, the author of True Medical Detective Stories is back with an all-new book of complex cases, where medical professionals must often race against the clock to find clues in the most unusual places.
Fascinomas is an entertaining and informative collection for physicians, nurses, medical students and those who simply can’t get enough of bizarre clinical cases. Written from the point of view of an experienced doctor, the stories are crafted in an engaging style that can be enjoyed by medical professionals and laypeople alike. More than just interesting tales, however, these real-life mysteries serve as great examples of the need for doctors to listen closely to and ask the right questions of their patients, even in the computer age, when so much information is at their fingertips. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, and you never know where a crucial piece of evidence will be found by one of the detectives of the medical world.
REVIEWS
“Meador offers a pleasant set of anecdotes about puzzling symptoms and the work of the ‘physician detective.’ A quick and enjoyable book of health-related who- and whodunits.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Fellow Physicians will find both hilarious entertainment along with some ‘aHa!’ moments that will sharpen their diagnostic acumen. For the general reader this book is not only entertaining but very informative about many aspects of the practice of medicine that should prove fascinating in the realm of Ripley’s Believe it or Not!
Some of the cases (and each is so short that giving away too many examples would hamper the joy of reading this book for those who wish to purchase it) include a strange case of ascending paralysis in a young girl that could have proven fatal had not a curious nurse in ICU no found the bulbar tick bite in the girl’s long hair, the removal of which immediately reversed the life threatening neurologic disorder that had puzzled all physicians involved, a case of an obese couple placed on a diet to reduce - not knowing that the woman would chew exorbitant amounts of sugarless gum (containing the culprit sorbital) that resulted is serious diarrhea, cases of Munchausen Syndrome (patients who inflict harm on themselves for secondary gain), a tale of the helpful aspects of rat eating snakes, a bizarre diagnosis of carbon monoxide poisoning that is a ‘true detective mystery’ sort, a case of dose and generic pill color resulting in adverse reactions easily altered by a bright observing physician’s thoughtful input, some old wive’s tales intervening in diagnostic dilemmas that prove to be not elegant possible surgical diagnoses but chicken pox!. The lost goes on and on.
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Meador’s quite the gifted writer in discussing these cases and keeps just the right amount of mirth along side pertinent learning information to make these stories appeal to both medical and non medical readers: he has been writing satiric medical articles in the best of journals for many years now! Highly recommended.”
Grady Harp, November 2013
“A 5 star fascinating journey through the mind and bodies of humans. We are such complex systems filled with amazing interlinking processes. I was fortunate to hear a radio talk show with Dr Meador and couldn't wait to read his books. His writing is both tongue in cheek and scientifically accurate. Truly enjoyable reading. ”
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D. Hanavan, February 2014
“It was short and sweet and to the point. Personally, I would have liked more substance in the stories, but all in all, a good read. ”
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William R. Jones, January 2014