Looking Within

Looking Within describes a family of magical machines that allow doctors to see within the living body without having to slice it open. The book presents a vitally important branch of medicine that combines cutting-edge technologies with clinical applications that can spell the difference between life and death for patients.

A bilingual edition of poetry from an important Cuban poet.

What would it be like to have x-ray vision? Beyond diagnosing illness or injury, can images of ourselves tell us more about life? What if you could see that an accident victim will never walk again; that a young mother has breast cancer; or that a teenager is brain-dead and will be removed from life support? Can imaging help us better appreciate the complexity of existence, our strengths and vulnerabilities? Does looking into the body give insight into what it means to be human? Would it allow you, at least indirectly, to glimpse evidence of the human soul? Looking Within is the first mainstream collection of dramatic non-fiction narratives about discoveries in patients found by medical imaging. Ruff highlights the wonder and mystery of the human body, literally and metaphorically looking inside of others. Each story describes a patient in whom a life-changing discovery is made: tumors, stroke, domestic violence, substance abuse, sterility, unexpected pregnancy, infection, surgical complications, evidence of criminal activity, mental illness, even impending death. Dr. Ruff’s words, images, and insights help us see ourselves like never before.

An ethnographic study of fetoscopy that considers both the broader cultural context of this high-risk obstetrical procedure and the patient's individual experience. In Looking Within, Deborah Blizzard examines the high-risk in utero surgery known as fetoscopy, considering it as both cutting-edge medical technology and as a sociocultural construction of patients, their social networks, and medical providers. She looks at the way individual experiences shape these procedures and how fetoscopy affects individuals (both patients and providers) on a personal, emotional level. Based on an eleven-month ethnographic study of the fetoscopy practice at a community-based hospital and further interviews with former patients, Looking Within offers a vivid picture of the sometimes conflicted, often desperate, and always emotional lives of those undergoing fetoscopy, and challenges current assumptions about normal and appropriate pregnancy experiences. To convey the complex reality of fetoscopy, Blizzard draws from the experiences of the real patients she interviewed for the book to present the fictional case of Melinda and Joe, taking them through the entire process, from diagnosis to decision to outcome. She then discusses the emergence of fetoscopy as an accepted form of high-risk obstetrical care, how fetoscopy programs are established at hospitals, and why otherwise healthy women consent to surgery. Blizzard examines the use of fetoscopy in single-fetus and in twin pregnancies, looking at how religion, culture, society, and medical science inform any understanding of who or what is in utero (a baby? a tumor? a mass?). She also discusses definitions of loss and success, and the narratives patients and their social networks construct to make sense of them. Looking Within will help physicians and nurses improve the development and delivery of fetoscopy procedures, help patients understand this new technology, and help scholars evaluate fetoscopy's bioethical, social, and cultural implications.

This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2013. Can we adopt human rights concepts, long used to frame problems of social justice, to define environmental justice? Can existing social institutions provide models and tools for achieving environmental justice? This volume views old models of agency through new lenses and examines how several social institutions, such as law, education and health care, address specific environmental problems. The volume presents arguments for human obligations towards the environment and future generations. Scholars assess the limitations of existing models and others point to recent failures in protecting the interests of indigenous groups or species. And on a hopeful note, examples are given of institutions that promise some success in effecting environmental goals. As this discussion of citizenship suggests, much like environmental justice, a global context both in definition and application is required.

These poems are meant to challenge and inspire the reader. You will see that poetry is a matter of perception. My poems will make you laugh, cry, shout hurrah and search for the humanity in society.

IN this collection of poems I show you the world in a unique perspective. These are the kind of poems you can't put down. You will want to get copies for your freindS and family. I touch on many issues in my poetry such as life, death, love, faith, survival, societies issues and prejudices.

We all long for a blissful relationship. No matter how many attempts you have made in the past to find ''the one''--or how many break-ups you may have had--if you are still determined to get another shot at finding or attracting your true soul mate, let ''ReLovenship Look Within to Love Again!'' be your next step.

Three chief categories of seekers have been kept in view in selecting passages for this compilation: those who wish to obtain a greater life-mastery; those who, while pursuing the common goals of life, also aim at something beyond the ordinary life and seek to grow towards a higher or spiritual state of being; and those for whom spiritual growth is the primary purpose and occupation of life......