cover image Joseph

Joseph

Joseph A. Stirt. New Horizon Press, $22.95 (200pp) ISBN 978-0-88282-111-5

Stirt, an anesthesiologist on the faculty at the University of Virginia, chronicles the anguishing first months of his daughter's life. Born prematurely in 1984, Caroline seemed to have no serious medical problems. But two days after her birth she developed neonatal enterocolitis (NEC), a serious and often fatal disease that strikes newborns. As their infant hovered between life and death, Stirt and his wife Judy, a nurse, were on the receiving end of the medical profession, experiencing the frustration and heartache of having little or no say about Caroline's painful treatment and ultimate quality of life. Written in diary form, Stirt's memoir includes doctors' and nurses' notes documenting his daughter's condition and eventual recovery. Although there is some medical jargon, it never stands in the way of the book's powerful emotional impact. 25,000 first printing. (Nov.)