
These Vital Signs
A Doctor's Notes on Life and Loss in Tweets
Sayed Tabatabai(Author)
Harper (Publisher)
Published on 6. July 2023
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-0-06-329137-9 (ISBN)
Description
A doctor reflects on his profession and his experience with patients in this brilliant essay collection that expands on his wildly popular Twitter poems.
In medicine, every patient presents with a story. "Once upon a time I was well, and then . . . " These patient narratives are the beating heart of medicine; through stories we strive to communicate, to understand, to empathize, and perhaps find healing.
These Vital Signs is a poignant series of essays-deeply personal stories-inspired by nephrologist Sayed Tabatabai's medical experience and based on a series of poems he posted on Twitter that began going viral at the height of the Covid pandemic. Each short work is a poignant glimpse into the ever-changing field of medicine and the special relationship between patients and their doctor. In each, Tabatabai beautifully evokes the emotional tension between life and death, wellness and disease, uncertainty and hope, in a unique and unforgettable way.
Exploring themes of illness, dying, grief, and joy, universal in its reach, These Vital Signs tells stories both remarkable and utterly ordinary of a doctor and the patients who have shaped him.
In medicine, every patient presents with a story. "Once upon a time I was well, and then . . . " These patient narratives are the beating heart of medicine; through stories we strive to communicate, to understand, to empathize, and perhaps find healing.
These Vital Signs is a poignant series of essays-deeply personal stories-inspired by nephrologist Sayed Tabatabai's medical experience and based on a series of poems he posted on Twitter that began going viral at the height of the Covid pandemic. Each short work is a poignant glimpse into the ever-changing field of medicine and the special relationship between patients and their doctor. In each, Tabatabai beautifully evokes the emotional tension between life and death, wellness and disease, uncertainty and hope, in a unique and unforgettable way.
Exploring themes of illness, dying, grief, and joy, universal in its reach, These Vital Signs tells stories both remarkable and utterly ordinary of a doctor and the patients who have shaped him.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 146 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
277 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-329137-9 (9780063291379)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2023
HarperCollins
€14.99
Available for download
Person
Sayed Tabatabai is a nephrologist and a writer. He shares most of his work as @TheRealDoctorT with his large audience on Twitter, and his writing has appeared in Medium, Physicians Weekly, and the Wall Street Journal, and on NPR. He lives in San Antonio.