Counting Backwards

A Doctor's Notes on Anesthesia

By: Henry Jay Przybylo MD

Narrated by: Tom Perkins

For many of the 40 million Americans who undergo anesthesia each year, it is a source of great fear and fascination. In Counting Backwards, Dr. Henry Jay Przybylo - an anesthesiologist with more than 30 years of experience - has written an unforgettable account of the routine procedure's daily dramas and fundamental mysteries.

Przybylo has administered anesthesia more than 30,000 times in his career - erasing consciousness, denying memory, and immobilizing the body before reversing all of these effects - on newborn babies, screaming toddlers and sullen teenagers, his own son, and even a gorilla. With compassion and candor, he weaves his experiences into intimate stories that explore the nature of consciousness, the politics of pain relief, and the wonder of modern medicine.

Through its intense and humane tales of mistakes, near-disasters, life-saving successes, and moments of grace, Counting Backwards shines a light on one of the most fascinating but unexplored corners of the medical world.

©2017 Henry Jay Przybylo, MD (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[Pryzbylo] weaves an enjoyable narrative out of...the wealth of experience he has gained over more than 30 years...[and] offers a rare and thoughtful look behind the scenes of this crucial yet arcane specialization." ( Publishers Weekly)

A Book I Truly Enjoyed

Anesthesia was always a mysterious art to me, as to most of you in Audible Land. The doctor wrote the book for normal folks without a sound knowledge base on this trade. It is easy within 15 minutes to also know this doctor was a notch above others, and the commenter was wonderful with a rich voice. If your not in the field of medicine you will find a fact a page that you were not aware of. I did disagree with him about his thoughts on narcotics for pain control in general.
This Opiod Crisis has unwittingly created a victim and that is chronic pain patients. They are now being denied proper amounts of pain medications and where do these poor folks go? They go thru other avenues to get relief and know nothing about administer drugs such as Fentanyl and now folks that have never broke the law are over-dosing and dying. When government interferes with the past sacred patient/doctor relationship then we must react as citizens. When the doctor visited China where kids were tied to their beds wriggling in pain was hard to imagine, but this good doctor must realize there are miners down in Appalachia not getting proper relief only because of doctors not doing their job. There is a difference between addiction and dependence, but other than our opinions clashing on that one area, one of the most interesting books I have ever read.

Future certified nurse anesthetist

This is wonderful insight on anesthesia for a current student looking and willing to become a CRNA.

Thank you, Doc!

Good short read

I come from an anesthesiology background. He does a good job describing anesthesia in detail to lay people. it is an easy to understand read with some interesting stories. Pretty short but still takes several hours.

Wonderful Book

At first I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this book but it ended up being a really great book. The stories he shared from his career in medicine were amazing. Some really special times. And I learned some new things about anesthesia. Being a nurse, a lot was already familiar to me, but a few things were new. Great job Dr. Jay!

Excellent book with a reservation

This book was well written, descriptions were clear accurate and understandable. The history of anesthesia was well described. I enjoyed his anecdotal stories of individual patients. It appeared to be told in a way that non-medical people could comprehend most of the science.
My only reservation is that, me being a CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthesia) with over 35 years experience, 31 of those years without working with an anesthesiologist, there was ZERO mention or professional recognition. Our specialty have been providing anesthesia in ALL areas with and without anesthesiologists with impeccable success ( no studies have shown one provider superior to the other)
I’m not asking for a long dissertation of our speciality but a mere mention and acknowledgement of nurse anesthetists contributions were definitely missing

Oustanding book!!!

I couldn't stop listening. I enjoyed the docs journey of life lessons. and his willingness to grow and better himself. I initially heard the docs interview on NPR radio and he talked of the loss of his wife, I thought that was going to tie into the book, but it wasn't about that. I was disappointed the way the book ended I assumed everything would come full circle with a point, but it just ended and that was it. Overall great audible book.

Interesting View From the Head of the Gurney

This is an interesting look at the mysterious sleep that most of us will enter at some point during our lives.

Dr. Jay outlines in accessible language some of the technicalities of his professional life as an anaesthesiologist. At the same time, he gives the reader/listener credit for having a brain and doesn't dumb it down too much.

Narration is good.