The Next Breath

Follow the author's riveting journey from the threshold of death as he navigates the vagaries of modern medicine, PTSD, self-doubt and introspection to emerge forever changed by the event while coming to terms with a new appreciation for the tenuousness of existence. An inspirational story of faith, love and self-reliance. MAJOR THEMES Three themes run throughout The Next Breath. 1. The Healing Journey - the immediate crisis and recovery process are described as are the emotions, such as denial, anger, depression, angst, fear, and vulnerability that ebb and flow like sine waves through the aftermath of the emergency and recovery from it. 2. Medical Decision-Making - the not always constructive interplay between the peculiarities of how contemporary medicine is practiced and patients' psychological and therapeutic needs in times of crisis is documented. 3. Fate - how chance dictates the course of our lives and how reacting to, perhaps accepting, the undirected nature of existence can affect the recovery and adjustment to a life-threatening event. WHERE THE NEXT BREATH FITS The Next Breath offers a new perspective on the Near Death Experience (NDE) and Death and Dying literatures. Like Eben Alexander's Proof of Heaven the point of departure is a sudden, near fatal illness. However it is not another NDE story. Instead the near death event might more aptly be called a Sudden Life Experience and the book focuses on the profound self-examination it initiated. While The Next Breath takes inspiration from Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's work On Death and Dying and the stages of grief navigated by the terminally ill, this book centers on the stages of recovery and rebuilding a life. It is a story of life and living vs. death and dying, therefore. ABOUT THE AUTHOR With a doctorate in Sociology (Tufts University) and a Master of Public Health degree (Harvard University) Joe Fisher can speak to the topic of the consequences of life-threatening medical emergencies from a professional as well as personal perspective. As the author of three books, as many book chapters and over 20 peer reviewed articles, his work has received praise from Publishers Weekly, The Miami Herald and the New England Journal of Medicine. For more information see www.the-next-breath.org