Catch Your Breath: The Secret Life of a Sleepless Anaesthetist

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The author masterfully avoids any hint of bragging or entitlement, presenting the challenges Anesthetists face with humility and authenticity. This was a book that at times was hard to read due to the pure raw emotion and honesty but then within minutes I was gasping for air as I was laughing so much and while I felt some of these stories were over embellished, who doesn't re tell a story and now beef it up a bit? The Secret Life" makes you think you will learn, well, some secrets, maybe a little mystery, maybe something naughty the author will admit to. Comedians' Surgery podcast - where I interview comedians about their health and medical stories, with some features and games thrown in. We have all lived a shared experience in the last two years, but for some, the essential workers, the experience was much more acute, it took all they had and more.

The vast majority of the “funny” scenarios however made me cringe and were quite obviously severely embellished if not entirely fabricated (accidentally sitting on a patient’s dad’s lap? The story takes us through Ed's training which had some side splittingly funny anecdotes, his rotations as a junior doctor though to Covid hitting. It definitely made me appreciate the NHS and everyone in the health and care professions so much more and opened my eyes toward the struggles and hardships that the NHS really went through. There is some humour in the second half - however Covid deaths are too raw and sad for them to be anything but.I have written my first book 'Catch Your Breath' a funny and honest story about becoming an anaesthetist, and then also being at the forefront of a little-known, worldwide pandemic. Written in short snippets of cases, experiences, and daily life this book was super easy to read and would be a great book to dip in and out of if you're short on time. On top of this it's moving without being overwrought, and insightful about the issues facing the NHS without being preachy.

Small things like this in medicine (being human) are shown throughout the book, being a doctor is not only about being clever but rather having empathy and compassion. I devoured this book in one go, resulting in a very late night/ early morning, but I couldn't put it down. Ed is unapologetic in his unrestrained views of the NHS, and his stark honesty during the COVID-19 pandemic was both refreshing and desperately sad.Perhaps I am a little biased, having specialised my reading in non-fiction and with a weird interest in reading/watching medical stuff. Patrick is great at writing vivid characters but I also wanted a little more substance to his environmental descriptions.

Ed weaves his humanity through this, with frequent and tender references to his family, in particular his parents which leaves you in no doubt as to the man he is. This was both fascinating and sobering as we follow Ed becoming an anesthesiologist just as Covid strikes. Ed has written and performed on BBC Radio 4, for shows "Now Wash Your Hands" and "Newsjack", and he has also written for the Guardian about the intersection between medicine and comedy. In medicine, you are not just carrying out procedures, but rather you are helping real life people and it is so important to respect their wishes when working.For those on the front line, in our hospitals and ambulances, our GP surgeries, we asked of them to walk towards a virus that threatened both their lives and of those they cared about. As a health care professional I can relate to lots of the stuff discussed within the pages but Ed just has a way of making things absolutely hilarious.

The book raises the important issue of mental health support for medical staff and the general public after dealing with the pandemic. I found I could pick it up and read a little at a time, due to the relatively short chapters and the fact it’s split into sections. This is what Catch Your Breath a deeply moving and often hilariously funny book is about, not just the authors journey to becoming a anesthetist, but the often harrowing reality of life in our already struggling hospitals even before Covid hit.He has performed across the UK, including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and hosts the "Comedians' Surgery" podcast where he speaks to guests including Joe Lycett, Rose Matafeo and Reginald D Hunter about their health stories and experiences. Authentic is also his account of the time spent in the hospital during the hardship of Corona times. A funny and well-written book, that is a necessary read to understand what really went on in the ICUs. It was a draining time for doctors that even their days off did not feel like days off, there were simply days where they were at the hospital and days when they are not. What is really happening there is unfathomable for the majority of - hopefully - accidental visitors of the surgery room.