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The Tenth Nerve: A Brain Surgeon's Stories of the Patients Who Changed Him
Riveting and dramatic, The Tenth Nerve offers a rare window into the world of a pre-eminent neurosurgeon and the seven exceptional patients that made him a better person.
“The scalpel can only go so deep, and technical skill can only take one so far.”
In this absorbing narrative, Dr. Chris Honey, an accomplished neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital, weaves his personal journey together with case studies that reflect the thrill of scientific discovery and the limitations of medicine. Operating on a terminally ill child amid an Ebola outbreak in Liberia, he questions his preconceptions about what it means to "win" against a disease.
Reflecting on his own path into neurosurgery, he brings to life a relatively new, high-stakes field of medicine—one that historically demanded emotional detachment and often attracts extreme personalities. With a compassionate eye, he traces the courage and determination of several patients suffering from mysterious, unrecognized illnesses, two of whom led Dr. Honey and his team to discover an entirely new disease and its cure. In clear, engaging prose, he invites us into the operating room to witness this extraordinary discovery—involving the tenth cranial nerve—alongside him. And, outside the OR, an unusual friendship with a former patient alters his perspective on clinical detachment, and what "quality of life" really means.
Combining a humane perspective, lively anecdotes, and a deep curiosity about the uncharted territories of the human brain, The Tenth Nerve is a richly fascinating memoir that will fill you with wonder.
“The scalpel can only go so deep, and technical skill can only take one so far.”
In this absorbing narrative, Dr. Chris Honey, an accomplished neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital, weaves his personal journey together with case studies that reflect the thrill of scientific discovery and the limitations of medicine. Operating on a terminally ill child amid an Ebola outbreak in Liberia, he questions his preconceptions about what it means to "win" against a disease.
Reflecting on his own path into neurosurgery, he brings to life a relatively new, high-stakes field of medicine—one that historically demanded emotional detachment and often attracts extreme personalities. With a compassionate eye, he traces the courage and determination of several patients suffering from mysterious, unrecognized illnesses, two of whom led Dr. Honey and his team to discover an entirely new disease and its cure. In clear, engaging prose, he invites us into the operating room to witness this extraordinary discovery—involving the tenth cranial nerve—alongside him. And, outside the OR, an unusual friendship with a former patient alters his perspective on clinical detachment, and what "quality of life" really means.
Combining a humane perspective, lively anecdotes, and a deep curiosity about the uncharted territories of the human brain, The Tenth Nerve is a richly fascinating memoir that will fill you with wonder.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 8, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
June 8, 2022
Amazing! The first chapter revealed a whole new world of why do surgery on a child who will die within weeks, both to the author and to me. The author was in Liberia as a volunteer neurosurgeon. A woman had trudged days from her village with her little boy in her arms, he had water on the brain and his skull was so heavy he could no longer lift his head. His only treatment had been from the village's highly-esteemed doctor - a witch doctor we would call him.
The author knew that the child wouldn't live very long and that surgery would be pointless. However, a Liberian doctor pointed out that if they did not operate, the village would think that the child's ailment was not a medical problem, but possibly a curse or at least involving evil spirits. The child would die and the mother would be ostracised as cursed, possessed perhaps of malign spirits herself. But if he operated, that would acknowledge to the village that it was a medical problem, which they would accept.
So the author operated and even though the child's life could not be saved by more than a few weeks, it gave the mother a future in her village, her life had been saved.
The author says at the end of the book
The second chapter, saving a young man's life who has a shard of glass as big as a carving knife in him from a fall and dies several times in Trauma, before they find out if it is a spinal cord or heart issue, reads like a thriller. Such writing is thrilling! Other stories - there are seven - are about thinking outside of the box, treating and discovering an unknown disease (and finding that all the photographic evidence of his newly-identified disease has been destroyed, a heart-sinking moment) and medical miracles that happen that, as yet, have no explanation at all.
The author is not only a Canadian professor of neurosurgery but also an Olympic diver, part of the team from Barbados, his own story is interwoven with the medical stories he writes in this book. It is his love of sport that informs the last story where he becomes friends with a patient whose life he saved and they become stalwarts of the over 50's football team together. The author says,
Thank you author and doctor and diver Chris Honey for an amazing book, brilliantly written, communicating insights that have given me in interpretation of the world that will live with me forever. 10 stars really is ridiculous for a book this good.
The author knew that the child wouldn't live very long and that surgery would be pointless. However, a Liberian doctor pointed out that if they did not operate, the village would think that the child's ailment was not a medical problem, but possibly a curse or at least involving evil spirits. The child would die and the mother would be ostracised as cursed, possessed perhaps of malign spirits herself. But if he operated, that would acknowledge to the village that it was a medical problem, which they would accept.
So the author operated and even though the child's life could not be saved by more than a few weeks, it gave the mother a future in her village, her life had been saved.
The author says at the end of the book
"Saika, the remarkable nine-month old boy in Liberia who suffered with such a quiet dignity, taught me we can fail as physicians, but we must always try and help."It made me think of the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam, that human beings (not Jews) are responsible for completing God's creation and improving the world. Perhaps that is why it made such a big impression on me? I was taught that since I was a small child but never had thought of it in any except broad terms. But that is what this good doctor was taught by his Liberian colleagues. A moment of absolute epiphany for the author, and now for me.
The second chapter, saving a young man's life who has a shard of glass as big as a carving knife in him from a fall and dies several times in Trauma, before they find out if it is a spinal cord or heart issue, reads like a thriller. Such writing is thrilling! Other stories - there are seven - are about thinking outside of the box, treating and discovering an unknown disease (and finding that all the photographic evidence of his newly-identified disease has been destroyed, a heart-sinking moment) and medical miracles that happen that, as yet, have no explanation at all.
The author is not only a Canadian professor of neurosurgery but also an Olympic diver, part of the team from Barbados, his own story is interwoven with the medical stories he writes in this book. It is his love of sport that informs the last story where he becomes friends with a patient whose life he saved and they become stalwarts of the over 50's football team together. The author says,
Alan taught me to celebrate the life of a patient, which can be far more rewarding than defeating their illness. The real victories in medicine are macroscopic, not microscopic.The book has extremely detailed descriptions of surgery, a little history and an ending that emphasises that the last 100 years of neurosurgery have taught us much about the physical brain, but nothing at all about what is a mind, how we form thoughts, how we recognise creativity and logic but have no idea how or where these are processed. In short, we know the brain pretty well, the mind hardly at all.
Thank you author and doctor and diver Chris Honey for an amazing book, brilliantly written, communicating insights that have given me in interpretation of the world that will live with me forever. 10 stars really is ridiculous for a book this good.
June 12, 2022
FROM THE BLURB:
Riveting and dramatic, The Tenth Nerve offers a rare window into the world of a pre-eminent neurosurgeon and the seven exceptional patients that made him a better person.
“The scalpel can only go so deep, and technical skill can only take one so far.”
In this absorbing narrative, Dr. Chris Honey, an accomplished neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital, weaves his personal journey together with case studies that reflect the thrill of scientific discovery and the limitations of medicine. Operating on a terminally ill child amid an Ebola outbreak in Liberia, he questions his preconceptions about what it means to "win" against a disease.
Combining a humane perspective, lively anecdotes, and a deep curiosity about the uncharted territories of the human brain, The Tenth Nerve is a richly fascinating memoir that will fill you with wonder.
The Tenth Nerve relates to a new discovery of probably an ancient disease (one of two) that involved the tenth nerve controlling breathing, coughing and other systems which were for many years unsuccessfully treated as psychosomatic, or asthma, or allergies. The condition would later be named HELPS (a neurovascular compression syndrome--one of many)The discovery was kick-started by Emily, a women who never gave up and was determined to be heard. Her story is one of the seven inspiring stories shared in the book. The second discovery would be known VANCOUVER.
After twenty-five years as a neurosurgeon, who were taught never to get involved with his patients, to treat all conditions by its scientific name, regardless who the patient was with the illness(names did not matter), Dr. Honey has learned that listening to the most challenging patients can teach you the most profound truths. Truths about medicine, truths about yourself.
Doctor Chris Honey says in an interview with Drew Arquhart (Youtube)that the brain has a pulse to which surgeons must dance(paraphrased).
His writing style is riveting, informative, easy to understand, and deeply thrilling. I found the history of many conditions he treated really interesting.
How many of us know how old surgery really is? The discovery of the oldest medical text ever written, approximately dating back 1600 BCE, which was a copy of a treatise from around 3500 BCE, left me in awe. Not only about the old text, but how old our civilization really might be. There are of course equally as ancient, and possibly even older texts conserved somewhere in India and China.
The Egyptians also did not deem the brain particularly important. When they embalmed bodies, they pulled the brain out through the nose, with a long, sharp hook and discarded it.
Did they not know that the brain controlled our thoughts, movements, and personalities?
Other comments were surprises, such as:
The Tenth Nerve is a book about curiosity, the wonder of the human brain, and the courage of a few remarkable patients."
***
"Studies have shown that people wearing street clothes shed less bacteria than those wearing surgical scrubs."
***
"Alcohol can cause hypogonadism in men(shrunken testicles) with resultant gynecomastia ("Man boobs" and feminization of hair."
***
One of his patients said: "A seizure is like an enema to one's pride."
***
"The French surgeon Ambriose Paré (1510-1590) famously said: The physician's duty is to cure occasionally, relieve often, console always.
Nowadays, says Chris Honey, these duties have been reversed in importance. Doctors are expected to cure always and leave the consoling to the nurses.
Dr. Honey himself says: The brain will impress you with its anatomical beauty and fascinate you with its functional complexity."
This non-fiction thriller (as most of us ordinary readers will experience it) opened up a window into the brain and inspire us to be more aware of the miracles and mysteries of science, and all the dedicated doctors making a difference in so many lives. I am once again grateful for the evolution in medicines that changed the world and made it a better place.
Dr. Chris Honey must be thanked for sharing his life story and his experiences with us. It really enrich our world.
Riveting and dramatic, The Tenth Nerve offers a rare window into the world of a pre-eminent neurosurgeon and the seven exceptional patients that made him a better person.
“The scalpel can only go so deep, and technical skill can only take one so far.”
In this absorbing narrative, Dr. Chris Honey, an accomplished neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital, weaves his personal journey together with case studies that reflect the thrill of scientific discovery and the limitations of medicine. Operating on a terminally ill child amid an Ebola outbreak in Liberia, he questions his preconceptions about what it means to "win" against a disease.
Combining a humane perspective, lively anecdotes, and a deep curiosity about the uncharted territories of the human brain, The Tenth Nerve is a richly fascinating memoir that will fill you with wonder.
The Tenth Nerve relates to a new discovery of probably an ancient disease (one of two) that involved the tenth nerve controlling breathing, coughing and other systems which were for many years unsuccessfully treated as psychosomatic, or asthma, or allergies. The condition would later be named HELPS (a neurovascular compression syndrome--one of many)The discovery was kick-started by Emily, a women who never gave up and was determined to be heard. Her story is one of the seven inspiring stories shared in the book. The second discovery would be known VANCOUVER.
After twenty-five years as a neurosurgeon, who were taught never to get involved with his patients, to treat all conditions by its scientific name, regardless who the patient was with the illness(names did not matter), Dr. Honey has learned that listening to the most challenging patients can teach you the most profound truths. Truths about medicine, truths about yourself.
Doctor Chris Honey says in an interview with Drew Arquhart (Youtube)that the brain has a pulse to which surgeons must dance(paraphrased).
His writing style is riveting, informative, easy to understand, and deeply thrilling. I found the history of many conditions he treated really interesting.
How many of us know how old surgery really is? The discovery of the oldest medical text ever written, approximately dating back 1600 BCE, which was a copy of a treatise from around 3500 BCE, left me in awe. Not only about the old text, but how old our civilization really might be. There are of course equally as ancient, and possibly even older texts conserved somewhere in India and China.
The Egyptians also did not deem the brain particularly important. When they embalmed bodies, they pulled the brain out through the nose, with a long, sharp hook and discarded it.
Did they not know that the brain controlled our thoughts, movements, and personalities?
Other comments were surprises, such as:
The Tenth Nerve is a book about curiosity, the wonder of the human brain, and the courage of a few remarkable patients."
***
"Studies have shown that people wearing street clothes shed less bacteria than those wearing surgical scrubs."
***
"Alcohol can cause hypogonadism in men(shrunken testicles) with resultant gynecomastia ("Man boobs" and feminization of hair."
***
One of his patients said: "A seizure is like an enema to one's pride."
***
"The French surgeon Ambriose Paré (1510-1590) famously said: The physician's duty is to cure occasionally, relieve often, console always.
Nowadays, says Chris Honey, these duties have been reversed in importance. Doctors are expected to cure always and leave the consoling to the nurses.
Dr. Honey himself says: The brain will impress you with its anatomical beauty and fascinate you with its functional complexity."
This non-fiction thriller (as most of us ordinary readers will experience it) opened up a window into the brain and inspire us to be more aware of the miracles and mysteries of science, and all the dedicated doctors making a difference in so many lives. I am once again grateful for the evolution in medicines that changed the world and made it a better place.
Dr. Chris Honey must be thanked for sharing his life story and his experiences with us. It really enrich our world.
January 14, 2022
Canadian neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Honey has written an informative and richly detailed book, focusing on seven patients who changed him professionally and personally. Along the way, he provides
• a brief history of neurosurgery, highlighting some of the important, ground-breaking figures in the field (Harvey Cushing and Wilder Penfield, for example);
• descriptions of some important tools of his surgical trade and explanations about how they are used;
• a sense of the way a brain surgery typically unfolds—in the first world and in the third;
• a consideration of the critical importance of a well-functioning, focused surgical team;
• insights into the challenges of working within the encumbered, bureaucratic, and often glacially slow Canadian medical system;
and
• accessible discussions of several conditions he’s treated in his career—from hydrocephalus in young children (where cerebrospinal fluid flow is obstructed in the brain and patients’ heads become dangerously enlarged) to vascular compression syndromes in the brain (where small cerebral arteries pulse against important nerves, altering the function of those nerves or making them hyper-irritable so that they cause frightening, mysterious, and debilitating symptoms in patients).
Honey’s book is a challenging one. Descriptions of surgeries often had me googling anatomical diagrams in order to understand the problems the neurosurgeon was attempting to correct. I think a few strategically placed diagrams would have been helpful.
The author’s writing is clear, logical, and well organized. Honey is brave and honest about some cases in which his patients had difficult recoveries. In general, his tone is (perhaps not surprisingly) more cool and cerebral than warm and emotional. Although I felt I did get to know and trust him, I had the sense that he was holding back at times. In short, I don’t think he fully delivered on the deeper ways in which he changed as a doctor and a human being because of his interactions with the seven highlighted patients. Honey remains a practising, professionally active neurosurgeon at a large Vancouver hospital, and I suspect this fact has some bearing on a certain aloofness to the writing.
This is a valuable, informative book for motivated nonfiction readers who are interested in the human body and brain and the medical profession in general.
• a brief history of neurosurgery, highlighting some of the important, ground-breaking figures in the field (Harvey Cushing and Wilder Penfield, for example);
• descriptions of some important tools of his surgical trade and explanations about how they are used;
• a sense of the way a brain surgery typically unfolds—in the first world and in the third;
• a consideration of the critical importance of a well-functioning, focused surgical team;
• insights into the challenges of working within the encumbered, bureaucratic, and often glacially slow Canadian medical system;
and
• accessible discussions of several conditions he’s treated in his career—from hydrocephalus in young children (where cerebrospinal fluid flow is obstructed in the brain and patients’ heads become dangerously enlarged) to vascular compression syndromes in the brain (where small cerebral arteries pulse against important nerves, altering the function of those nerves or making them hyper-irritable so that they cause frightening, mysterious, and debilitating symptoms in patients).
Honey’s book is a challenging one. Descriptions of surgeries often had me googling anatomical diagrams in order to understand the problems the neurosurgeon was attempting to correct. I think a few strategically placed diagrams would have been helpful.
The author’s writing is clear, logical, and well organized. Honey is brave and honest about some cases in which his patients had difficult recoveries. In general, his tone is (perhaps not surprisingly) more cool and cerebral than warm and emotional. Although I felt I did get to know and trust him, I had the sense that he was holding back at times. In short, I don’t think he fully delivered on the deeper ways in which he changed as a doctor and a human being because of his interactions with the seven highlighted patients. Honey remains a practising, professionally active neurosurgeon at a large Vancouver hospital, and I suspect this fact has some bearing on a certain aloofness to the writing.
This is a valuable, informative book for motivated nonfiction readers who are interested in the human body and brain and the medical profession in general.
February 6, 2022
This didn’t read like a medical textbook. It was informative but digestible for the common reader. I thought Dr. Honey’s connections were interesting, but I found it most interesting how his view points changed after connecting with some of these patients.
January 5, 2025
These are stories told with compassion and I enjoyed reading some of the surgical detail.
May 24, 2022
This memoir by a neurosurgeon had some interesting history and information, although the amount of detail he gave about the step-by-step of surgical procedures was a bit too much.
September 11, 2025
i am subjective, by being a neurosurgeon myself, but this was a good and refreshing book that not only showed seven stories about amazing patients, but also created a portrait for the surgeon, the human behind the scalpel.
November 4, 2023
Strongly recommend this to everyone I know with even a passing interest in neuroscience, medicine, or scientific research! I found it engaging and unexpectedly eloquent for a medical memoir. Dr. Honey elucidates each procedure and case with a degree of clarity that allows for comprehension even in a reader without prior knowledge of neurological structures, although I think having some baseline knowledge of the brain made it more interesting. He interspersed the technical procedures and discoveries with insights that arose from different cases throughout his career, making the whole read heartening and inspirational. 5/5
April 10, 2022
Dr Honey did a great job with this book; it was a relatively easy read with very cool insight into neurosurgery as well as some of the key lessons Dr Honey has learned over his storied career.
November 30, 2022
Super interesting read that I probably never would have picked up if not for my amazingly diverse book club. The writing is engaging with just the right mix of story and teaching. I also love to read “local” books where I have been to locations and know who some of the people are.
September 15, 2022
Fascinating to read about patient's symptoms that were thought to be psychogenic, but were found to be due to an underlying physical/structural abnormality.
August 13, 2022
I love this kind of book; especially where high performing medical professionals can step back and view the bigger implications, both personal and and scientific, of their practice. Dr. Honey writes humbly of seven cases that affected his career. He was fortunate to be a specialist in a field that matched his temperament and skills so well, and to be an observant scientist open to new discoveries. I expected a series of cases, a la Oliver Sacs, but was surprised as I read, to learn that this neurosurgeon identified and treated a disorder previously unknown to medicine, and by describing it, gave the patients suffering from this condition, an opportunity to find relief.
My one disappointment is that he didn't describe more fully the amazing Vagus nerve, after which his book is titled. He describes the condition he named, but didn't elaborate about the other functions of The Tenth Cranial Nerve.
Great book and easy read even for a layperson if you are into this kind of thing.
My one disappointment is that he didn't describe more fully the amazing Vagus nerve, after which his book is titled. He describes the condition he named, but didn't elaborate about the other functions of The Tenth Cranial Nerve.
Great book and easy read even for a layperson if you are into this kind of thing.
July 17, 2022
XXXXX
WHO KNEW?? A LITTLE HONEY IS GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN!!
XXXXX
"Here, then, is a book about discoveries--both medical discoveries that I have provided my patients and personal discoveries that my patients have prompted in me.
These are the stories of seven brave individuals whose close encounters changed me into a better person and surgeon.
The scalpel can only go so deep, and technical skill can only take you so far. Real understanding of an illness requires listening and genuine care.
[This book} is a book about curiosity, the wonder of the human brain, and the courage of a few remarkable patients."
The above quote (in italics) comes from this mesmerizing book by Christopher Honey, MD. He is a neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital (in British Columbia or B.C., Canada). Honey is also Head of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of B.C. In 2018, he was elected president of the World Neurosurgical Federation for Cranial Nerve Disorders.
A neurosurgeon is a medical doctor who performs neurosurgery.
Neurosurgery (neurological surgery) known colloquially as brain surgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, surgical treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which effect any portion of the nervous system (central nervous system [brain and spinal cord], peripheral nervous system, and cerebrovascular system).
A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system.
Cranial nerves are the twelve pairs of nerves that emerge directly from the brain (including the brainstem).
This book offers a rare glimpse into the world of a neurosurgeon and the seven patients (the author's "magnificent seven") that made Honey not only a better neurosurgeon but a better human. Honey weaves his personal journeys as a neurosurgeon with case studies that reflect the thrill of scientific discovery with the limitations of medicine. He does an excellent job of combining a human perspective, historical anecdotes, and a deep curiosity.
He takes us into the operating room and tells us step-by-step what he is doing for a particular patient. I found this fascinating (but some other readers may disagree with me). A good proportion of this book is dedicated to these step-by-step procedures.
One chapter is dedicated to him being the first neurosurgeon to recognize and successfully treat a rare neurological syndrome in 2014. Another chapter chronicles his discovery and successful treatment of the first person in the world of another rare neurological syndrome in 2019.
This book's title is actually referring to the tenth cranial nerve (called the Vagus) while on the book's cover (shown above by Good Reads) is a picture of the surgeon's primary tool, a scalpel.
Dr. Honey's average rating as a neurosurgeon (based on nineteen reviews) at the "Rate MDs" website is 4.45 stars out of five stars.
Finally, this book screams out for illustrations (pictures, drawings, etc.). In my opinion, omitting illustrations was a major oversight. As well, a glossary would have been beneficial.
In conclusion, if you want a rare window into the world of a compassionate neurosurgeon, this is definitely the book to get!!
XXXXX
(2021; foreword, ix to xi; 12 chapters; main narrative 235 pages; acknowledgements; notes; about the author)
XXXXX
WHO KNEW?? A LITTLE HONEY IS GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN!!
XXXXX
"Here, then, is a book about discoveries--both medical discoveries that I have provided my patients and personal discoveries that my patients have prompted in me.
These are the stories of seven brave individuals whose close encounters changed me into a better person and surgeon.
The scalpel can only go so deep, and technical skill can only take you so far. Real understanding of an illness requires listening and genuine care.
[This book} is a book about curiosity, the wonder of the human brain, and the courage of a few remarkable patients."
The above quote (in italics) comes from this mesmerizing book by Christopher Honey, MD. He is a neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital (in British Columbia or B.C., Canada). Honey is also Head of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of B.C. In 2018, he was elected president of the World Neurosurgical Federation for Cranial Nerve Disorders.
A neurosurgeon is a medical doctor who performs neurosurgery.
Neurosurgery (neurological surgery) known colloquially as brain surgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, surgical treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which effect any portion of the nervous system (central nervous system [brain and spinal cord], peripheral nervous system, and cerebrovascular system).
A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system.
Cranial nerves are the twelve pairs of nerves that emerge directly from the brain (including the brainstem).
This book offers a rare glimpse into the world of a neurosurgeon and the seven patients (the author's "magnificent seven") that made Honey not only a better neurosurgeon but a better human. Honey weaves his personal journeys as a neurosurgeon with case studies that reflect the thrill of scientific discovery with the limitations of medicine. He does an excellent job of combining a human perspective, historical anecdotes, and a deep curiosity.
He takes us into the operating room and tells us step-by-step what he is doing for a particular patient. I found this fascinating (but some other readers may disagree with me). A good proportion of this book is dedicated to these step-by-step procedures.
One chapter is dedicated to him being the first neurosurgeon to recognize and successfully treat a rare neurological syndrome in 2014. Another chapter chronicles his discovery and successful treatment of the first person in the world of another rare neurological syndrome in 2019.
This book's title is actually referring to the tenth cranial nerve (called the Vagus) while on the book's cover (shown above by Good Reads) is a picture of the surgeon's primary tool, a scalpel.
Dr. Honey's average rating as a neurosurgeon (based on nineteen reviews) at the "Rate MDs" website is 4.45 stars out of five stars.
Finally, this book screams out for illustrations (pictures, drawings, etc.). In my opinion, omitting illustrations was a major oversight. As well, a glossary would have been beneficial.
In conclusion, if you want a rare window into the world of a compassionate neurosurgeon, this is definitely the book to get!!
XXXXX
(2021; foreword, ix to xi; 12 chapters; main narrative 235 pages; acknowledgements; notes; about the author)
XXXXX
October 29, 2022
I became aware of this book as Dr. Honey has done medical trips with the organization I volunteer with (Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation). Unfortunately I missed my chance to hear him speak at a fundraiser, but my mom and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading his book together. Dr. Honey has taken what might seem like an intimidating subject to most, and has turned it into a compelling and digestible read.
February 18, 2023
The Tenth Nerve was a very enjoyable read kindly gifted to me by my Granny. Honey gives a touching recount of the patients that shaped his practice as a neurosurgeon. He intersperses these stories with tales from the history of neurosurgery and descriptions of the equipment he uses routinely. These elements support Honey’s story and give a well rounded exploration into the life of a neurosurgeon. 4/5
February 25, 2023
nice book, easy listen, Dr Honey is very good at describing neuroanatomy without so much as a diagram, so maybe he’ll make a good professor. my favourite story was when he treated a patient not to treat the disease but to help the community and the mother in the long run. the rare holistic view is appreciated
set in vancouver so i kind of hated that he name drops people i know… the world is too small for comfort. and also he can’t pronounce medication names to save his life. good thing he’s a surgeon.
set in vancouver so i kind of hated that he name drops people i know… the world is too small for comfort. and also he can’t pronounce medication names to save his life. good thing he’s a surgeon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2022
I listened to audiobook but I skipped couple of chapters.
Dr. Chris is a kind and fantastic brain surgeon, He shares how he chose neurology by interning in different departments in hospital.
Doctor shared Details about 7 patients who changed his life as a surgeon, it was an interesting journey.
Takeaway lesson from this book was mind and body are in sync, always listen to your body.
Dr. Chris is a kind and fantastic brain surgeon, He shares how he chose neurology by interning in different departments in hospital.
Doctor shared Details about 7 patients who changed his life as a surgeon, it was an interesting journey.
Takeaway lesson from this book was mind and body are in sync, always listen to your body.
July 13, 2023
3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book. Neurosurgery is a complicated arm of medicine. Imagine operating on brains! My only complaint was, although this book is both educational and enlightening, at times it felt as though Dr Honey was writing a scientific paper for his neurosurgery colleagues. I loved that he is Canadian and works at Vancouver General Hospital.
July 20, 2024
A neurosurgeon's account of the cases that changed him. Some are brief accounts that have had a profound impact of how medicine goes beyond the science. Otherwise, the book is majorly focused on the author's discovery of HELPS (Hemi-laryngopharyngeal spasm) syndrome and VANCOUVER syndrome, the detailed documentation of which will prevent misdiagnosis and dismissal of patients who suffer from it.
February 9, 2023
Fascinating first person account of a Canadian neurosurgeon and the patients who changed him
… I appreciated his humility, honesty, and forthright approach to his memoir, which has given me some new insights and life lessons to reflect on.
… I appreciated his humility, honesty, and forthright approach to his memoir, which has given me some new insights and life lessons to reflect on.
September 11, 2023
This was an interesting book, especially about the history of Neurosurgery. However, I had the audiobook, and the narration is not good. It is monotone and slow. Too bad I couldn’t get the actual book from the library.
January 22, 2023
Probably a 3.5 with no medical background but 4.5 for an md
March 6, 2023
I absolutely loved this book! It was so interesting I found myself watching YouTube videos on Neurosurgery. 10/10.
October 9, 2023
An interesting and amazing book. Dr Honey is very humble describing what he has accomplished in his career. Loved the stories of patients whose lives have been changed by this surgeon.
December 12, 2023
Really interesting
September 13, 2024
Fascinating look inside the skull and into the career of a neurosurgeon.
November 16, 2025
4.25 ⭐️
August 1, 2025
Really interesting!
May 6, 2023
Profound, practical and interesting medical story
For anyone wanting to understand more about what interrupts the brain's functionings, especially those suffering and those living with them, and the need to persist pass wrong diagnosis.
For anyone wanting to understand more about what interrupts the brain's functionings, especially those suffering and those living with them, and the need to persist pass wrong diagnosis.
January 5, 2025
Audio format 🎧. This was a super interesting non fiction/ memoir of a neurosurgeon that discussed the authors career and presented a number of interesting cases and patients he treated. I enjoy science and medical books and this was a great one in audio format. 4/5!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews