Even though I enjoy the mysteries of James Patterson, especially the Alex Cross series, when it comes to writing I am much, much more like Lee Child. Lee has no idea where he will start his next bestseller. Well, maybe a vague notion. But he starts with a few totems by his side — freshly sharpened pencils, even though he now types all his works. And, he just starts.
I write like that … but slightly differently when I am writing this missive. Even though I lived it, I need to give some structure to my story, my memoir, and thus the evolving Table of Contents. And, the evolving chapter titles. Like the other writer I know and love, Diana Gabaldon, I feel compelled to give both chapter number and chapter title to my memoir. I blame it on our shared background in research. That said, I present …
Table of Contents
x Author’s Note
xi Prologue
PART 1 – INTENSIVE CARE UNIT
1. EMS to the Rescue
2. Surgical Intervention
3. The Policeman Always Rings Twice
4. C is for Coma
5. Family Meetings
6. Dreamland Delights
7. Awakening As If From Sleep
PART 2 – TRAUMA AND SURGERY, UNIT 71
8. Too Much Company
9. Friends and Family Plan
10. I Meet a Policeman
11. Facebook Follies
12. Showering WithThe Nurse
13. Coffee With Daphne
14. Visitors
15. A New Roommate
16. Escape From Heck
PART 3 – TERTIARY NEURO REHABILITATION, UNIT 58
17. The Lay of The Land
18. Speaking of Words
19. It Becomes My Job
20. I Learn To Walk Again
21. Love At First Sight
22. I Prescribe
23. Time Passing
24. Who Is Coming To Dinner
25. The Denizens of Unit 58
26. Family Meeting
27. The Messenger
PART 4 – RECOVERING, SETTLING IN, EXPLORING
28. Comes A Social Worker
29. Community Assisted Rehabilitation
30. Driving Ms. Daisy
31. Suicide Is Painless
32. Home Again, Home Again
33. Exploring The Prairies and The Ocean
PART 5 – DECEMBER 2011 to DECEMBER 2013
34. Friday Night Fever
35. You Have The Gall
36. Interludes At The Lake
37. Vegas Baby
38. Brewers Droop
39. Calgary Pain Clinic
PART 6 — JANUARY 2013 To DECEMBER 2016
40. My Mission Is Healing Myself
41. Dropping Like Flies
42. Twenty Fifth Anniversary
43. Descending Into Pain
44. Packing Up, Moving Out, Moving On
45. A Frozen Hell
46. Cancun Miracle
47. Pain Redux
48. Bahamanian Delight
49. Futurecast
BOOK 2 LESSONS IN HEALING
50. How To Heal/Empower Yourself
51. Curiosity * Openness * Intuition
52. Facts Are Friendly
53. Experiment, Document, Hypothesis, Repeat
54. Like A Bolt Out Of The Blue
55. The Future Awaits
AFTERWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
END NOTES
An Excerpt from CRASH! Memories of a Healing Journey, Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved
