The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome: Fixing Broken Faces: Patient Stories of Maxillofacial Surgery

by Morton H. Goldberg

Overview

Early in his groundbreaking career as a maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. Morton Goldberg coined “The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome” to describe patients whose eggshell-thin facial bones had been damaged by trauma, disease, or malformation. The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome is his memoir of surgical adventures as he did what all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t. He put people back together again.  

His story begins in a dark, dusty basement at Harvard Medical School, where an epiphany launched a career that would endure feuding with the powers-that-be at Harvard Medical and Dental Schools, taming the madness at Bellevue Hospital, and experiencing successes—and failures—in the operating rooms of the University of Connecticut and Hartford Hospital. These patient-focused tales are peopled with professors and bowery derelicts, serial killers and clergy, motorcycle gangs and missionary doctors, and the Surgeon General. The nascent art of oral-maxillofacial surgery evolves from being dismissed, trivialized, and underutilized to being in the mainstream of American surgery, despite bitter opposition from dentists and other surgical specialities who vigorously defended their turf and their pocketbooks.

The case-based stories explore the contemporary health issues of guns gone wild, intramural medical conflicts, malpractice madness, the doctor-patient relationship, the poverty-disease equation, drug dependency, domestic violence, and healthcare legislation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780692158555
Publisher:	Morton H. Goldberg
Publication date:	09/11/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	406
File size:	2 MB

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Author’s Note ix

Foreword xiii

The Epistle Dedicatorie To Henry the Third xvii

Reflection and Revelation 1

PART 1: HARVARD

Veritas 7

Le Miserable 19

Continuing Education 26

PART 2: ALBANY

The Warehouse and the Hollow 35

Something Else 43

Damn You, Damn You 48

A Nice Tie 54

Oops 59

An Old Man’s Story 62

Paul Newman and William Halsted 68

Just Do It 71

See One, Do One, Teach One 74

Leaving 78

PART 3: BELLEVUE

Bellevue 83

Bluebird 86

The Boss Hangs Around 95

I Quit 107

House Calls 112

Behind Bars 121

The Doctor Barks 126

A Stationary Train 129

PART 4: HARTFORD

Inside Out, Bottom Up 135

Moving Along 144

Olga and His Honor 151

Dr. Ludwig’s Angina 160

Dr. Heberden's Angina 167

A Hypothetical Shoe and Beaucoup Bone 172

Iatrogenic Usury 177

A Real Mensch 186

Down the Toilet 191

Up Close and Personal 195

Discipline and Decorum 200

Progress 205

Two Faces 211

And Don’t Come Back 220

MnM 228

Pourquois Pas? 239

Anna’s Tale 242

Harley 249

Close Calls 259

Bang Bang 267

Zig-Zag 273

Tales of the Tongue 277

Missionary Impossible 283

Small, Medium and Large 291

Horses in Striped Pajamas 298

Dolor 306

A Tale of Two Cites 319

Humpty Dumpty Medical Economics 352

Swimming Through Life 363

A Library Burning 376

Acknowledgments 383

About the Author 385

Editorial Reviews

“This book is much more than a memoir. It is a collection of very personal medical and dental stories that describe a journey through grueling, remarkable, and professional introspection as well as love of family and humanity. It is a primer for the development and exercise of true tested leadership.”

--Peter J. Deckers, MD, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Surgery at University of Connecticut School of Medicine

From the Publisher