KIRKUS REVIEW
"In 1964, Dr. G. Bennet Humphrey worked in the leukemia ward at the National Institute of Health in Maryland and was tasked with administering a drug protocol called POMP, an initialism that captured the four drugs it included:
prednisolone, Oncovin, methotrexate, and Purinethol. While POMP could send leukemia into remission, effectively
curing patients previously considered terminal, it also delivered debilitating side effects: toxicity, nausea, vomiting,
bleeding, and infections, and it sometimes could result in fatality. Nevertheless, the author and his two colleagues, Dr.
Gerald Sandler and Dr. Rick Lottsfeldt, were ordered by their supervisor, Dr. Emil “Jay” Freireich, to press on with the
treatment. In some cases, in order to protect their patients from the effects of POMP, they violated protocol. The anguish
of seeing young children suffer because of a treatment they loathed took an emotional toll on Humphrey and his
colleagues: “I was tired of writing orders that could cause toxicity, tired of looking for toxicity all week long, tired of
finding toxicity, and tired of watching patients die of toxicity.” The author details the year he spent working in pediatric oncology and discusses not only his clinical experience, but also the relationships he forged with his young patients and their parents, the friendships made with his two colleagues, and the diversions he turned to for solace from the pain of
being a daily witness to suffering. Humphrey writes with impressive clarity even when discussing highly technical
medical matters, and he poignantly expresses the visceral challenges of his work. He also adds another personal layer to
the story by chronicling his romantic life at the time and the loneliness he felt but could not adequately communicate to
others. The author’s remembrance is as moving as it is scientifically edifying.
An affecting, candid recollection about the human costs of medical research." - Kirkus Reviews
prednisolone, Oncovin, methotrexate, and Purinethol. While POMP could send leukemia into remission, effectively
curing patients previously considered terminal, it also delivered debilitating side effects: toxicity, nausea, vomiting,
bleeding, and infections, and it sometimes could result in fatality. Nevertheless, the author and his two colleagues, Dr.
Gerald Sandler and Dr. Rick Lottsfeldt, were ordered by their supervisor, Dr. Emil “Jay” Freireich, to press on with the
treatment. In some cases, in order to protect their patients from the effects of POMP, they violated protocol. The anguish
of seeing young children suffer because of a treatment they loathed took an emotional toll on Humphrey and his
colleagues: “I was tired of writing orders that could cause toxicity, tired of looking for toxicity all week long, tired of
finding toxicity, and tired of watching patients die of toxicity.” The author details the year he spent working in pediatric oncology and discusses not only his clinical experience, but also the relationships he forged with his young patients and their parents, the friendships made with his two colleagues, and the diversions he turned to for solace from the pain of
being a daily witness to suffering. Humphrey writes with impressive clarity even when discussing highly technical
medical matters, and he poignantly expresses the visceral challenges of his work. He also adds another personal layer to
the story by chronicling his romantic life at the time and the loneliness he felt but could not adequately communicate to
others. The author’s remembrance is as moving as it is scientifically edifying.
An affecting, candid recollection about the human costs of medical research." - Kirkus Reviews
WRITER'S DIGEST JUDGES COMMENTARY
- from 25th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards
Breaking Little Bones is a first-hand account from a children’s leukemia specialist about his practice at 2 East, a children’s leukemia ward in the 1960s. It is a difficult book to read due to the well-drawn spectacles of the children suffering from their illnesses, and all that entails on a physical and emotional level. The author’s voice is self-effacing. It is easy to like him and to see how deeply he cares about his patients. Nonetheless, I found it wrenching to read about the levels of pain a five-year-old endured (and would have to keep enduring on a monthly basis) during a bone marrow procedure (35). The reader will wonder why said young patients could not be put under! I was horrified by the author’s disclosure about pain levels or attitudes of other doctors. Dr. Freireich, for instance, seemed to believe emotional involvement from doctors was not helpful, but the reader begins to understand that unless emotionally removed, some doctors cannot cope. On the contrary, I appreciated Humphrey drawing a picture for John to help him understand his torment, and playing or holding other patients. I was reading through tears. I liked the author’s observation that young patients would frequently wait until an important event was over, like a holiday or a question asked, and then die. I loved Dr. Humphrey’s attitude that the kids in Ward 2 were children, not patients. It was noble of Humphrey to get endorsements from the doctors he wrote about. This is a sad but important testimony to the history of leukemia treatment in children.
Breaking Little Bones is a first-hand account from a children’s leukemia specialist about his practice at 2 East, a children’s leukemia ward in the 1960s. It is a difficult book to read due to the well-drawn spectacles of the children suffering from their illnesses, and all that entails on a physical and emotional level. The author’s voice is self-effacing. It is easy to like him and to see how deeply he cares about his patients. Nonetheless, I found it wrenching to read about the levels of pain a five-year-old endured (and would have to keep enduring on a monthly basis) during a bone marrow procedure (35). The reader will wonder why said young patients could not be put under! I was horrified by the author’s disclosure about pain levels or attitudes of other doctors. Dr. Freireich, for instance, seemed to believe emotional involvement from doctors was not helpful, but the reader begins to understand that unless emotionally removed, some doctors cannot cope. On the contrary, I appreciated Humphrey drawing a picture for John to help him understand his torment, and playing or holding other patients. I was reading through tears. I liked the author’s observation that young patients would frequently wait until an important event was over, like a holiday or a question asked, and then die. I loved Dr. Humphrey’s attitude that the kids in Ward 2 were children, not patients. It was noble of Humphrey to get endorsements from the doctors he wrote about. This is a sad but important testimony to the history of leukemia treatment in children.
Author Spotlight: G Bennett Humphrey
as published in Cozied Up with a Book Newsletter, 2017
Thank you for your interest in my creative non-fiction/memoir: BREAKING LITTLE BONE /Triumph And Trauma, The First Cures Of Childhood Leukemia
My editor at CreateSpace descripted my book as follows:
“In this profound, complex 1964 story, an internist, G. Bennett Humphrey, MD, PhD, chronicles his year on 2 East, the pediatric leukemia floor at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
With no training in pediatrics, the author confronts an entirely different world. From the beginning, he is amazed by the strength of the mothers, the compassion of the nurses, and the admirable ways the children cope with this devastating illness.”
Very factual! But the book is not about facts; it’s about children and their world as experienced on 2 East. I hope it is “profound.” I have tried to describe “the admirable ways the children cope with this devastating illness.”
In answering the six question which were submitted to me, I have presented short vignettes that describe the various ways children with leukemia shared their world with me.
#1. When did you first know you wanted to write a book about your year on 2 East? Tell us about that journey.
When did I first know? It was a slow journey.
Before I knew I wanted to write about 2 East, I had to first recognize that 2 East had transformed me (1964); then I had to accept that I wanted to be a pediatrician (1965) and was willing to retrain in pediatric oncology. (1966 – 1970)
As time went on, I started telling friends these poignant, funny and sad tales of 2 East, and I realized I wanted to share them with readers; nonprofessionals, health care professionals, or any reader of creative nonfiction. I wanted to tell them how wonderful kids are, and how much we can learn from a child dealing with stress.
#2. What was the most profound lesson you learned on 2 East?
A pediatric individual in your care is not a patient but a child.
The first half of the book is an internist observing and learning about 2 East through the mind set of internal medicine. Kids have mothers: adults have relatives. Kids are honest; adults down an appropriate façade. Love for kids; empathy for adults. These are a few examples from Part I. – The Learning Curve- of Breaking Little Bones.
#3. What did you learn about yourself?
I was 30 years old and I needed to come of age.
Despite a MD, PhD in Biochemistry, an internship and 2 years of residency in internal medicine, and a post doctorial fellowship in enzymology, I still didn't know how I was going to pursue an academic career, or how I was going to do try to contribute to my field.
#4. How does creative writing differ from academic writing?
In short, all my experience in writing articles, book chapters, and editing book on pediatric oncology has been of little value in creative writing. There is a joke among medical writers regarding the structure of an article:
“First you tells ‘em what you are going to tell them.
Then you tells ‘em.
Finally, you tells ‘em what you told ‘em.”
This is a story not about me, but of something bigger than me; the children with leukemia that educated me on the various hues of love, the awe of maternal love, the respect of caring nurses, the camaraderie of two other young physicians who were also assigned to 2 East, and a respect for clinical research. Writing this book was a trip down memory lane, to inadvertently smile, chuckle or cry, a chance to relive the most profound year of my life, and an opportunity to reflect on some of the mistakes I made and some of the weakness of my personality.
One does not think in these terms when summarizing the results of a clinical trial for an academic publication.
Facts don’t tell a story.
#5. Tell us about your poetry. Will you share a poem?
Aschie, my canine companion of twelve years, developed weakness of her hind limbs. It was only arthritis of the hips. At the time, I was editing a section of my book, Breaking Little Bones, about parents returning to the pediatric oncology unit after their child had died. I was very moved the first time I witnessed this form of bereavement. Why not go to a place that was special in the life of their child? It seemed to me such a visit was more relevant than going to a cemetery and reading a name on a heard stone.
Dog Park
”In Dickensonian light,
she opens the gate,
enters without leash
or collar.
Stands in the back,
eyes follow the running,
jumping and frolicking,
of a loved one, no longer there.
Half smiles,
nodes and listens
to barks, yelps and whines
no one else can hear.
Gone are the licks on her hand,
the wag of an old dog’s tail,
the warm body she carried
up and down the stairs.
Good memories do not
write themselves into a book,
nor are the best memorials
carved on a slab of stone.”
Aschie was put down, euthanized, on January 4th,. Yes, I do on occasion go to our favorite dog park here in Boulder. These are good trips, a chance to smile, or sigh, or cry. It’s active bereavement, and I learned it from a grieving mother on 2 East, a long time ago.
In memory of Aschie
Tears are the dividends paid
for loving investments made
in walks, feeding, caring,
and twelve years of sharing.
-- unpublished
#6. What do you hope people will gain by reading Breaking Little Bones (BLB)?
I think this can best be answered by looking at a few of the themes of the book.
Children
It’s a privilege to work with young people. Adults don’t always give them credit for their insight as to what is going on.
“In BLB, we meet courageous victims of what was thought to be a fatal disease – leukemia. The little saints have wisdom, maturity, and resilience beyond their years.” Dr. Trueworthy, pediatric oncologist.
They all, in their own way, bond with their doctors and nurses. For example, on her second admission, Sally ran down the hall to greet me, “Hi ,Doctor Humpfee” and gave me a hug.
They are very forgiving. The little ones yell, cry and have to be restrained when needles are used. Fifteen minutes later, they may want you to help put a puzzle together.
They all know many untold things. Jimmy’s mother didn’t want anybody telling her son he had leukemia. When he was admitted for terminal care, and she wasn’t in the room, he asked me, “How do kids get into heaven?”
They can cut to the quick. “Green oxygen sign on the door - sick kid. Sign gone - dead kid.”
Their sense of humor can be very inventive. A preadolescent girl wore a tee shirt stating: “I’m bald, I’m beautiful, Dr. H is my barber.”
They live in the moment. For a few days before my colleague, Doctor Lottsfeldt’s wife delivered, we made rounds together because I’d be covering some of his patients. One was Susan, a seven-year girl who was weak and preterminal. She never spoke, never smiled, never moved; she just listened. The morning after Doctor Lottsfeldt’s son, Eric, was born, I walked into Susan’s room. She was sitting up and smiling. “We were expecting you, Doctor Humphrey. We heard about Eric” her mother said. “Yes.” said Susan. “A new born baby boy.”
Mothers and Nurses
Both are major themes and I’ll again quote Dr. Truethory’s review of BLB:
“Doctor Humphrey is in awe of mothers. They are a network of strong supportive good women who although overprotective, show uncompromising love while going through multiple levels of hell: diagnosis, remission and relapse whether on therapy or off. They had no rest or relaxation, no time off period.
The RNs were the heroic professionals that helped with procedures. They gave the POMP and Daunomycin or “Red death” as it was called. The doctors are there to avoid the Vietnam war. The nurses are there because they wanted to be.”
In summary: I hope a few readers of this Spotlight will want to read the entire book: Breaking Little Bones, The First Cures of Childhood Leukemia.
Thank you for your interest in my creative non-fiction/memoir: BREAKING LITTLE BONE /Triumph And Trauma, The First Cures Of Childhood Leukemia
My editor at CreateSpace descripted my book as follows:
“In this profound, complex 1964 story, an internist, G. Bennett Humphrey, MD, PhD, chronicles his year on 2 East, the pediatric leukemia floor at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
With no training in pediatrics, the author confronts an entirely different world. From the beginning, he is amazed by the strength of the mothers, the compassion of the nurses, and the admirable ways the children cope with this devastating illness.”
Very factual! But the book is not about facts; it’s about children and their world as experienced on 2 East. I hope it is “profound.” I have tried to describe “the admirable ways the children cope with this devastating illness.”
In answering the six question which were submitted to me, I have presented short vignettes that describe the various ways children with leukemia shared their world with me.
#1. When did you first know you wanted to write a book about your year on 2 East? Tell us about that journey.
When did I first know? It was a slow journey.
Before I knew I wanted to write about 2 East, I had to first recognize that 2 East had transformed me (1964); then I had to accept that I wanted to be a pediatrician (1965) and was willing to retrain in pediatric oncology. (1966 – 1970)
As time went on, I started telling friends these poignant, funny and sad tales of 2 East, and I realized I wanted to share them with readers; nonprofessionals, health care professionals, or any reader of creative nonfiction. I wanted to tell them how wonderful kids are, and how much we can learn from a child dealing with stress.
#2. What was the most profound lesson you learned on 2 East?
A pediatric individual in your care is not a patient but a child.
The first half of the book is an internist observing and learning about 2 East through the mind set of internal medicine. Kids have mothers: adults have relatives. Kids are honest; adults down an appropriate façade. Love for kids; empathy for adults. These are a few examples from Part I. – The Learning Curve- of Breaking Little Bones.
#3. What did you learn about yourself?
I was 30 years old and I needed to come of age.
Despite a MD, PhD in Biochemistry, an internship and 2 years of residency in internal medicine, and a post doctorial fellowship in enzymology, I still didn't know how I was going to pursue an academic career, or how I was going to do try to contribute to my field.
#4. How does creative writing differ from academic writing?
In short, all my experience in writing articles, book chapters, and editing book on pediatric oncology has been of little value in creative writing. There is a joke among medical writers regarding the structure of an article:
“First you tells ‘em what you are going to tell them.
Then you tells ‘em.
Finally, you tells ‘em what you told ‘em.”
This is a story not about me, but of something bigger than me; the children with leukemia that educated me on the various hues of love, the awe of maternal love, the respect of caring nurses, the camaraderie of two other young physicians who were also assigned to 2 East, and a respect for clinical research. Writing this book was a trip down memory lane, to inadvertently smile, chuckle or cry, a chance to relive the most profound year of my life, and an opportunity to reflect on some of the mistakes I made and some of the weakness of my personality.
One does not think in these terms when summarizing the results of a clinical trial for an academic publication.
Facts don’t tell a story.
#5. Tell us about your poetry. Will you share a poem?
Aschie, my canine companion of twelve years, developed weakness of her hind limbs. It was only arthritis of the hips. At the time, I was editing a section of my book, Breaking Little Bones, about parents returning to the pediatric oncology unit after their child had died. I was very moved the first time I witnessed this form of bereavement. Why not go to a place that was special in the life of their child? It seemed to me such a visit was more relevant than going to a cemetery and reading a name on a heard stone.
Dog Park
”In Dickensonian light,
she opens the gate,
enters without leash
or collar.
Stands in the back,
eyes follow the running,
jumping and frolicking,
of a loved one, no longer there.
Half smiles,
nodes and listens
to barks, yelps and whines
no one else can hear.
Gone are the licks on her hand,
the wag of an old dog’s tail,
the warm body she carried
up and down the stairs.
Good memories do not
write themselves into a book,
nor are the best memorials
carved on a slab of stone.”
Aschie was put down, euthanized, on January 4th,. Yes, I do on occasion go to our favorite dog park here in Boulder. These are good trips, a chance to smile, or sigh, or cry. It’s active bereavement, and I learned it from a grieving mother on 2 East, a long time ago.
In memory of Aschie
Tears are the dividends paid
for loving investments made
in walks, feeding, caring,
and twelve years of sharing.
-- unpublished
#6. What do you hope people will gain by reading Breaking Little Bones (BLB)?
I think this can best be answered by looking at a few of the themes of the book.
Children
It’s a privilege to work with young people. Adults don’t always give them credit for their insight as to what is going on.
“In BLB, we meet courageous victims of what was thought to be a fatal disease – leukemia. The little saints have wisdom, maturity, and resilience beyond their years.” Dr. Trueworthy, pediatric oncologist.
They all, in their own way, bond with their doctors and nurses. For example, on her second admission, Sally ran down the hall to greet me, “Hi ,Doctor Humpfee” and gave me a hug.
They are very forgiving. The little ones yell, cry and have to be restrained when needles are used. Fifteen minutes later, they may want you to help put a puzzle together.
They all know many untold things. Jimmy’s mother didn’t want anybody telling her son he had leukemia. When he was admitted for terminal care, and she wasn’t in the room, he asked me, “How do kids get into heaven?”
They can cut to the quick. “Green oxygen sign on the door - sick kid. Sign gone - dead kid.”
Their sense of humor can be very inventive. A preadolescent girl wore a tee shirt stating: “I’m bald, I’m beautiful, Dr. H is my barber.”
They live in the moment. For a few days before my colleague, Doctor Lottsfeldt’s wife delivered, we made rounds together because I’d be covering some of his patients. One was Susan, a seven-year girl who was weak and preterminal. She never spoke, never smiled, never moved; she just listened. The morning after Doctor Lottsfeldt’s son, Eric, was born, I walked into Susan’s room. She was sitting up and smiling. “We were expecting you, Doctor Humphrey. We heard about Eric” her mother said. “Yes.” said Susan. “A new born baby boy.”
Mothers and Nurses
Both are major themes and I’ll again quote Dr. Truethory’s review of BLB:
“Doctor Humphrey is in awe of mothers. They are a network of strong supportive good women who although overprotective, show uncompromising love while going through multiple levels of hell: diagnosis, remission and relapse whether on therapy or off. They had no rest or relaxation, no time off period.
The RNs were the heroic professionals that helped with procedures. They gave the POMP and Daunomycin or “Red death” as it was called. The doctors are there to avoid the Vietnam war. The nurses are there because they wanted to be.”
In summary: I hope a few readers of this Spotlight will want to read the entire book: Breaking Little Bones, The First Cures of Childhood Leukemia.
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