Graphic Medicine

Available in print at the Health Science Center Library
On Mother's Day 2001, Henny Beaumont gave birth to her third daughter, Beth. For the first four hours of Beth's life, she seemed no different from Henny's two other little girls. But when the doctor told Henny and her husband that their daughter might have Down syndrome, Henny thought that her life was over. How would she be able to look after this baby, who required corrective heart surgery and an overwhelming amount of care, and manage her other two children at the same time? Hole in the Heart is a moving and refreshingly honest look at raising a child with special needs. Henny doesn't shy away from the complicated emotions and challenges that affected her and her family. But her story also shows that fear can be the greatest of these challenges--and the most rewarding to overcome. A raw, visually gripping memoir, Hole in the Heart shows how Down syndrome is only one piece of a family's story.

Available in print at the Health Science Center Library
A visually gripping graphic memoir, this book delivers the gritty details of a mother, a newborn, and a five-month stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). A routine prenatal exam reveals a dangerous problem and the first-time parents find themselves thrust into a world of close calls, sleepless nights, and psychological crisis. Surrounded by disagreements, deaths, extended family tensions, and questions of faith, the mother struggles to maintain a positive frame of mind. Against the antiseptic, mechanical reality of the NICU, the dedicated health professionals are drawn as sympathetic and wry animal characters. Doctor Eyes and Nurse Gentlehands are two of the care providers that do all they can to take care of Baby Asa. At times the parents battle feelings of helplessness but their determination, insight, bravery, and connection ultimately helps keep their little one alive.