Cold Tea and Tears

Cold Tea and Tears is Mary Farmer's biography of her life and work as a dietitian - and the result is a candid and highly personal account of her 30-year career. This profession-confession will appeal to readers who have more than a passing interest in matters medical and nutritional, are keen to know the variety of knowledge and expertise of dietitians and to discover what happens behind the scenes. Mary takes the reader on a whistle-stop tour of her training and her first job. She invites us to be a fly on the wall in her out-patient clinics and on home visits; trips to residential care homes for the elderly and to the hospice where embarrassing ailments, ethical dilemmas, controversial and contentious matters are aired. She'll draw you into debates on mental illness, malnutrition in older patients and artificial (tube) feeding. Mary also looks at how nutritional messages have changed over the years. This behind-the-scenes account gives some insight into the work of dietitians who, unlike doctors, paramedics and nurses, are not usually at the forefront of medical dramas and whose important work is often unrecognised by the wider public.