Critical Book Review of “Bed number 10”

Critical Book Review of “Bed number 10”

Bed number ten is a unique, inspiring book about Sue Baier, a housewife and a mother of two daughters, Elizabeth and Katherine, who had to go through a lot after contracting Guillan-Barre syndrome. Her entire body became paralyzed, whilst her mind remained alert. Her nervous system also lost its sensitivity to pain. Due to this, she had to be admitted to the hospital, where she stayed for eleven months. She was entirely helpless in the first four months; had to be attached to a respirator, communication also became a problem- she could only do so through eye blinking (Baier & Schmoker, p. 24). Her health improved gradually, and four years after, she was able to live a normal life with her husband and daughters, all while engaging in physical therapy sessions to enable her to control certain body muscles. Throughout her recovery, she experienced a number of challenges, the doctors and nurses were either too busy to attend to her and neglectful, but she finds Ginnie, a physical therapist who took good care of her from the convenience of her home (Baier & Schmoker, p. 239). The book gives hope to those suffering from the catastrophic disease and, at the same time, shows that something has to change in the healthcare system; nurses and doctors should be more considerate and attentive to patients struggling with the disease.

The book is written in the first person, with brief peeks at Bill; Elizabeth’s husband’s diary, it presents the suffering endured by Sue during her recovery. Her remarkable religious convictions and the fact that she had a family to support and take care of her saw her through it all (Ratzan, p. 1588). She often felt violated and neglected by the healthcare team attending to her. They did not communicate well, and often did actions that left her confused. For instance, Bruce, the nurse who was attending to her shoved a plastic tube down her throat without informing her as to why. He tells her, “Get used to that because you’re going to have a lot of that while you’re here” (Baier & Schmoker, p.16). It may not be his responsibility, but at least talking her through the procedure and what was to be done could have helped ease Sue. This action did nothing but increase her sense of loneliness, violation, and fear while she was at the hospital.

The book is inspiring and helpful for anyone struggling or taking care of patients and people suffering from Guillan-Baree syndrome. I had no clue how serious the disease could be until I read this book. I had often associated the disease with any other normal illness, whereby the patient completely recovered after a short while. Bed number ten offers a deep and relatable way of dealing with the disease, especially those suffering from it. Sue had to stay in recovery for a period of eleven months, she could barely talk, and her whole body was paralyzed. Despite this, she recovered fully and returned back to her normal life four years later. This offers hope to those living with Guillan-Baree syndrome that all is not lost; they can still heal and go back to their normal lives.

People suffering from Guillan-Baree syndrome and any other illness that the patient is rendered helpless, cannot communicate effectively should be well taken care of by the nurses, and not neglected or made feel embarrassed as we have seen in the novel. Also, anyone suffering from the condition should not lose hope since they can still recover, bounce back, and continue with their normal lives. For this to happen, support from the family is important; they should not be left alone since, at this point what they need most is people to look out for them. This would make them feel less helpless and even speeds up their recovery.

References

Baier, S., & Schomaker, M. Z. (1989). Bed number ten. CRC Press.

Ratzan, R. M. (1986). Book Review Bed Number Ten No Laughing Matter. New England Journal of Medicine, 314(24), 1587–1588. doi: 10.1056/nejm198606123142425