Book Title: Where the Anesthesiologist's Soul Resides: How Do We Express Love in the Face of Grief and Death?

Synopsis:

A deeply healing masterpiece by the passionate small-town physician "Aorta," a favorite among warm-hearted fans, designed to relieve pain for both your body and mind!

Each soul-soothing story carves out the struggling reflections of human nature... a precious chronicle of medical humanities. The moving interactions between doctors and patients serve as the ultimate remedy for life's trials and its eventual end!

Cheng-De Dai (Chair Professor of Medical Ethics/Medical Humanities at Chung Shan Medical University, Former President of the International Society for Clinical Bioethics, and 2019 Winner of the Fritz Jahr Award): Every article by Dr. Aorta is rich with moving stories and reflections on human nature. This book is something every medical professional should contemplate, and it stands as a true chronicle of medical humanities.

Chi-Wan Lai (Chair Professor of Medical Education and Attending Physician of Neurology at Sun Yat-sen Cancer Center): Writing under the pen name "Aorta," this anesthesiologist is a diligent writer who frequently publishes articles on the "Doctor-Patient Platform." His pen flows with a physician's empathy for patients and their families, touching the very depths of the soul.

Naturally laid-back and possessing absolutely no interest in writing research papers, pursuing promotions, or becoming a professor, "Aorta" decided to take a different path after completing his medical training—going down to the countryside to bring the anesthesia and pain management taught by his mentors to the most remote corners where no other doctors wanted to go.

At the same time, he manages the Facebook fan page "Where the Anesthesiologist's Soul Resides." These records have nothing to do with medical journals; they are simply stories of his interactions with patients and his battles against pain. Yet, every single piece soothes the soul and carves out the struggling reflections of human nature... serving as a precious chronicle of medical humanities. The moving connections between doctor and patient within these pages offer the ultimate remedy for life's trials and its final journey!

The Spiritual Landscape of an Anesthesiologist:

• I used to think that opening a hospital in this rural area wouldn't help patients much because they usually don't come to the hospital at all. By the time they finally do, it's already too late.

• When "possession" fails to teach you to cherish, life has no choice but to teach you through "loss."

• Administering anesthesia is sometimes like tightrope walking; below is a bottomless abyss, and you must keep both sides of the scale perfectly balanced. On one side is death caused by blood pressure dropping too low, and on the other is intraoperative awareness due to insufficient anesthetic depth. You must remain constantly vigilant and apprehensive.

• When I sit in the clinic, I dread the opening of the door. The moment the clinic door opens, a patient walks into my life. When a patient walks into my life, we both suffer—the patient suffers from their illness, and I suffer for their pain.

• I know this pain will never get better. When pain never improves, death seems to be the ultimate release from this endless suffering.

• Most of the time, when a patient chooses to forgo treatment, I don't say another word. Once the patient passes away, they will never hurt again, and my heart will stop aching too.

• I believe that being a doctor in this day and age is actually a very cruel thing. When I was a medical student, my teachers taught us to give patients the best and make the best decisions for them. But in the real world, I am not always able to give them the best.

• Sometimes you don't know whether what waits ahead is death or a miracle. Sometimes you don't understand whether you are torturing the patient, or if the patient is torturing you. Most importantly, you don't know whether to keep going or to let go.

• I used to think that when life comes to an end, if there is a pair of hands that can hold onto you tightly like this, perhaps death wouldn't be so terrifying.

• When you see these doctors staying up all night as if enduring torture, striving to stay awake despite their exhaustion, you realize that in this collapsing medical world, there are still many physicians who possess a passion that cannot be defeated. Because of them, you can still see hope in the darkness...

About the Author

Aorta

Anesthesiologist and Pain Specialist at Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, and part-time Anesthesiologist at Guanshan Tzu Chi Hospital. He is the author of the book The Melancholy of an Anesthesiologist. He manages the fan page "Where the Anesthesiologist's Soul Resides" and runs the Feng Mian Pavilion B&B, living a life that is half-farming and half-practicing medicine.

Whether becoming an anesthesiologist and pain specialist or a B&B operator, his ultimate purpose is to heal people's hearts. As a physician, he heals the hearts of patients suffering from illness; as a B&B operator, he heals the weary hearts of travelers.