DALLAS — What is it like to hold the beating heart of a two-day-old child in your hand? What is it like to counsel distraught parents as they make some of the most difficult decisions of their lives?
Noted pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Kristine Guleserian has opened up her OR, and her career, to author Mark Oristano to create Surgeon’s Story: Inside OR-6 With of of America’s Top Pediatric Heart Surgeons.
Guleserian’s life, training and work are discussed in detail, framed around the incredibly dramatic story of a heart transplant operation for a 2-year old girl whose own heart was rapidly dying. Oristano takes readers inside the operating room to get a first-hand look at pediatric heart surgeries most doctors in America would never attempt.
That’s because Guleserian is recognized as one of the top pediatric heart surgeons in America, one of a very few who have performed a transplant on a one-week-old baby. Guleserian provided her expertise, and Oristano furnished his writing skills, to produce A Surgeon’s Story.
As preparation to write this stirring book, Oristano spent hours inside the operating room at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas watching Guleserian perform actual surgeries that each day were life or death experiences. Readers will be with her on her rounds, meeting with parents, or in the Operating Room for a heart transplant.
Oristano is a successful sportscaster and photographer and has made several appearances on stage as an actor. He wrote his first book A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football: Decoding America’s Favorite Game, and continues to volunteer at Children’s Medical Center.
