How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer, Safer, and Healthier from America's Favorite Medical Examiner

250 Pages·2008·2.14 MB·English

by  Jan Garavaglia

HOW NOT TO DIE
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Confessions of a Real-Life Forensic Pathologist
1. Doctor Dread
2. Deadly Prescriptions
3. Code Blue
4. Highway to the Morgue
5. Dead Weight
6. Last Call
7. Dying to Get High
8. Up in Smoke: Risking Life and Lung
9. Everyday Dangers
10. Man, Oh Man!
11. Permanent Vacation
12. Longevity Rx
Epilogue: Lessons on How Not to Die
Resources and Websites
Selected Bibliography
About the Author
Copyright
To my loving and steadfast husband, Mark Wallace,
and our three wonderful sons, Alex, Eric, and Luke
The case studies portrayed in this book are based on the
experiences of real patients, whose names and identities
have been changed to protect their privacy. Any
resemblance to actual persons is entirely coincidental.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To each and every decedent I have autopsied: I would like to thank you for the
privilege of allowing me to learn from you. I’ll never take that privilege for
granted.
Mark Wallace: You are one of the most caring and intelligent physicians I
have ever known and an even better husband and friend. Your collaboration on
this book was invaluable and fun. Just like childbirth, I’m sure only the positive
memories of the process will endure.
Maggie Greenwood-Robinson: I was lucky to have you as a partner on this
project. You are a true professional. Your ability to translate ideas, concepts, and
medical information into words is unparalleled, and your enthusiasm and
optimism are infectious.
Bruce David Klein, the head of Atlas Media and producer of my show: You
deserve a special thank-you. Your vision, inspiration, and drive were essential to
this project. Your outstanding production staff at Atlas Media is wonderful to
work with and does a terrific job in taking my stories about death and bringing
them to life. I would especially like to thank Lorri Leighton, Cheryl Miller
Houser, and my “Orlando crew” of Fahad Vania, Bobby Monahan, Adam
Showen, and Andy Montejo for their outstanding performances and for making
our work fun.
Craig Coffman, the original producer of the Dr. G series at Atlas Media: You
also need a special thank-you because you were the reason I agreed to the pilot
and series. Your sensitivity to the subject matter and, most important, the fact
that you understood that everyone I autopsied had a story to tell, were crucial to
the genesis of the series.
Discovery Health: Thank you for the privilege of my appearing on your
network and being associated with such a quality organization. A special thanks
to all the loyal fans of the Dr. G series who have supported the show for the past
five years.
Heather Jackson, Heather Proulx, and the entire staff at Crown Publishers: I
had heard wonderful things about you prior to writing this book, and you
exceeded my expectations for creative input, insightful suggestions, and artful
editing. Thank you all so much for working with me as part of your amazing
team.
Everyone at the District Nine Medical Examiner’s office: You deserve a big
thank-you. Your support and tolerance of the show, as well as your compassion
and professionalism, make the show and this book possible. Steve Hansen, my
chief investigator, friend, and confidant, helps me keep things in perspective by
causing me to laugh at the world, myself, and (mostly) him. Sheri Blanton is the
world’s greatest medical examiner’s office administrator. Without you, none of
this could have been possible. I greatly value your friendship, support, and
confidence.
Eric Kowaleski: I know much of the time I spent on the book took you away
from family fun, and I appreciate your indulgence. Alex Kowaleski: Thank you
for being such a good sport about opening your life to the public. You’re both
wonderful sons.
My mother and family: Thank you for your love and support. And to my new
family in Washington: Thank you for your acceptance and for loaning Mark to
me.
HOW NOT TO DIE
INTRODUCTION
Confessions of a Real-Life
Forensic Pathologist
Something was lodged in her windpipe. As I probed with my
gloved fingers, I discovered that it was a piece of gum. Normally, this wouldn’t
be odd, except that I found it in a cadaver I was dissecting as a first-year medical
student. Cadavers are preserved hulls of bodies, donated remains. Doctors-to-be
become acquainted with them in anatomy classes. To us, they aren’t people. We
learn to depersonalize our cadavers, to think of them as structures and tissues,
not as human beings. And in med school, they’re used to teach us anatomy, not
how to find the cause of death. Cadavers don’t usually give up clues. That’s not
their job.
But when this one died, she was chewing gum. This made me curious. How
did she get to this point? Where did she come from? How did she die? I started
asking if anyone could get me some history on my cadaver. The body, it turned
out, was of a nun who died suddenly of cardiac arrest while chewing gum.
And so began my fascination with how people die.
I might as well take a moment here to introduce myself. I’m a medical
examiner, the only type of doctor whose patients are dead. “Dr. G” is the
nickname I was given by my team of autopsy technicians in Bexar County,
Texas, where I served as medical examiner for ten years. My Italian last name,
Garavaglia, is hard to pronounce correctly, since the second “g” is silent, like it
is in “lasagna.” My technicians shortened it to “Dr. G,” and it stuck.
Like that “g,” my patients are silent. They can’t tell me how they died, so I
have to find out. Their bodies store secrets and have stories to tell. Sometimes
there aren’t many details, maybe not even firm answers. But usually there are
clues about how people lived, what diseases and injuries they had, and how they
died. Those clues get discovered through an autopsy, a thorough, methodical
examination of a body. The results can help solve crimes, settle lawsuits, and
give families needed information about their loved ones. Often it is tricky work,
like solving a puzzle.