A sincere, thoughtful collection of stories assembled by a doctor who has witnessed a vast array of emotions while either giving grim prognoses or life-affirming news
A selection of vignettes throughout his life, some deeply personal & others emotionally relevant, A Promise of Rest is relayed in vivid and colorful detail and never lacks emotion.
Ron Lands wanted to study hematology, an education into blood that often proves revelatory to family history. Hematology and Oncology were once linked disciplines, but as time went on, the two diverged, and Ron committed himself to Oncology, as there was a greater need for oncologists. For a long time, a cancer diagnosis was considered a death sentence as there were few effective treatments. As Ron’s career progressed, pharmacology, along with radiation treatments and chemotherapy, offered a chance at prolonging life if not beating the disease.
Ron’s desire to become a doctor was sparked in a moment of tremendous pain when an acute case of appendicitis dashed his summer plans. The surgery was successful, yet his convalescence required an extended hospital stay, which left an indelible impact on Ron’s psyche. A summer of recuperation with little to do but read allowed Ron to feed his mind from encyclopedias while pondering his future. Ron would receive further enlightenment when he worked a night job as a janitor in a hospital, and he would receive an education in procedures from obliging nurses and from overhearing conversations between doctors.
From his early days as a doctor in training, Ron knew events happened that would keep him on his toes. The unenviable task of providing care to a patient with an unknown diagnosis is trying, and is only surpassed when you are the last person a terminal patient lays eyes on. The unexpected referral of his uncle as a cancer patient is recalled in such a way that is both agonizing and heartrending, yet Ron’s professionalism allows him to expect the unexpected and act accordingly. During his time as an oncologist, Ron Lands has treated friends, relatives, veterans, and youngsters and has seen how the pain in letting go swings both ways.
A Promise of Rest is an emotionally charged tour through both pain and suffering, joy and gratitude, wherein a medical professional doffs his stethoscope and utilizes his pen to chronicle various impactful stories he has experienced throughout his lengthy career. Ron Lands’s anecdotes range from informative to amusing, anxiety-laden to lachrymose, with each story possessing a different emotional resonance.
In regaling the reader with his stories, Lands shows himself to be pragmatic and equipped with more than a healthy amount of empathy for his patients. In a lengthy career where his words have provided concern or solace to many men and women, both patients and their family members, Ron Lands’ stories illustrate how there is a heavy toll taken on the doctors as well.
A Promise of Rest is a moving work and provides the necessary bedside manner that too many have thought had vanished in their doctors.
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