ALL THAT MOVES US

In riveting accounts of medical failure and triumph, a pediatric neurosurgeon recounts pivotal moments from his life and career - and what his brave young patients have taught him about the meaning of life and our struggle to live it.

As one of only 250 pediatric neurosurgeons in the States, Jay Wellons was compelled to write this book to share stories that have the power to deeply connect us all. Here, in ALL THAT MOVES US, Wellons shares his touching stories; both medical challenges overcome, as well as those that cause grief. For readers of Atul Gawande, Suleika Jaouad, Kate Bowler, and Paul Kalanathi, comes a dramatic account of high stakes medicine and the fragility of life. At the heart of the book, Dr. Wellons recounts pivotal moments from his life and career and shares what his brave young patients have taught him about the meaning of life. This is not a sad book, rather it is a book that lifts you up and gives you hope in the smallest, most wonderful things...

Wellons shares scenes of his early days as the son of a military pilot, the years of grueling training, and true stories of what it's like to treat the brave children he meets on the threshold of life and death. From the little boy who arrived in Wellons' operating room with a gunshot wound to the head, to repairing the shredded nerves of a newborn using suture as fine as human hair, to the aftermath of a challenging brain tumor resection in a teenage cheerleader, and the intensity of operating on the fetal spinal cord in the womb, ALL THAT MOVES US is an unforgettable portrait of the countless human dramas that take place in a busy modern children's hospital - and a meditation on the marvel of life as seen from under the white-hot lights of the operating room.

Reflecting with immense candor and honest compassion on lessons learned over 25 years and thousands of operations completed, Wellons tells with gripping detail the moments that have shaped him as a doctor, as a parent, and as the only hope for countless patients whose lives are in his hands.

Dr. Wellons teaches and practices at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, in Nashville, Tennessee. He studied English literature at the University of Mississippi, and He's written opinion pieces (https://rb.gy/tjfrlm) that showcase his storytelling skills, and his ability to make the complicated clear and compelling and this book is full of inspiring, gorgeous prose that reads like the best of literary memoirs.