Would you like to sit at the feet of a master and drink in a lifetime of wisdom? Then read this “ethical will” of a surgical legend. At the eclipse of his life, Dr. Sauvage—a luminary in the world of medicine—passes his ethical values and spiritual beliefs to the generations that follow. Opening Hearts inspires me to give, live, and love in a deeper way.
Vicki Rackner, MD
Former surgeon and current president of Medical Bridges, an organization dedicated to “Helping doctors and patient collaborate more effectively to get better medical outcomes.”
Founder of Pain Stompers and The Caregiver Club (www.PainStompers.com and www.thecaregiverclub.com) organizations for “Immediately improving the quality of life for family and friends of people in need.”
Lester Sauvage’s book Opening Hearts is a testimony to the importance of faith and love in action. His life displays Ignatian spirituality lived out in a very real and very effective way.
His work as a doctor shows deep respect for God’s creation and in this book he merges his powerful scientific background and knowledge with the kind of “whole person” care for the individual that is very characteristic of Jesuit education. His book reflects his faith-filled reverence for life in its wholeness and goodness, a closeness to God and the world, and a closeness to and care for others as well.
Lester Sauvage, MD, is a bright star in our Gonzaga alumni community. He has personally lived our Jesuit mission of leadership and service for the common good. His book teaches the essence of that mission as he articulates in his professional life the Jesuit ideals of care for the whole person – intellectually, spiritually, physically, and emotionally.
Frank Case, SJ, Vice President of Mission, Gonzaga University
Opening Hearts should be required reading for first year medical students prior to starting their course work. Medical education is such a marathon of science, facts, long hours, deadlines, examinations, and other stressors. Doctor Sauvage’s book is a “primer” to help young physicians see the importance of approaching medicine and their personal life with compassion, integrity, spiritual faith and honesty regardless of one’s religious beliefs. Doctors should NOT be just technicians. We are healers!
Practicing medicine today is increasingly more challenging with all of the reforms and I have felt lately that my own career was “in a rut.” Doctor Sauvage laid out for me a roadmap to revitalization. I am more content and “dialed in” as a physician, a father, a husband and a community member. Even my office staff has noticed a difference! I look forward to sharing this book with my colleagues. Doctor Sauvage is such a role model not just as a physician but as a human being.
This book is not just for medical professionals, however. I recommend the book for anyone who wants to “recharge their batteries.” All readers will benefit from the recommendations on improving their physical, mental, and spiritual health. Their lives will be reinvigorated as they explore their own “path to love and the true meaning of life.”
Matthew J. Riffle, MD, Internal Medicine, Poplar Bluff, Missouri
The Open Heart is a mixed bag with its many sections on self-help, medical, spiritual, and autobiographical material. It is also a fascinating read for almost anyone with experience in cardiac surgery, particularly for a cardiac surgeon, and its sections on healthful living are excellent for the laity.
The text is replete with “self-help” matters about how to live and eat well, and conduct one’s life sensibly, religiously, and healthfully. I could not agree more. It is also bluntly autobiographical. We get to know Lester Sauvage intimately and this may be the book’s greatest pleasure.
As a fellow cardiac surgeon, I am in full agreement with Dr. Sauvage’s description of his attitudes towards the patient’s holistic and spiritual needs, which are much like mine. Yet I can see little difference in our broad stroke approaches to patient care despite the reality that I am an atheist.
We surgeons understand more than the anatomy and pathology of the cardiac problem; a good doctor acknowledges the patient’s fears and terrors about the forthcoming brush with death, all unspoken but subliminally present. Personally I do not feel the need for “God” to guide me in this. Lester Sauvage sees this differently, as he has 10,000 times or more, for which I respect him as I always have.
His book is immensely persuasive. I am so impressed with his erudition and his devout and spiritual care. I am certain that his patients were not only cured of a specific physical problem but left his care healthier and happier after having joined him in his certainty that his religious convictions had been upheld by their experience and imbued with his devotedness.
Victor Parsonnet, MD, Director, Pacemaker and Defibrillator Center and Surgical Research, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, New Jersey
As a medical student I enjoyed Opening Hearts because it was helpful to see how Dr. Sauvage managed stress; a lot of medical students can relate to that. I was also impressed with his ideas about working on the inner soul rather than outward appearance. He does a really good job telling us that healing and health are so often related to the choices we make. It’s great to know that we have the power not only to choose health but also to choose how we live our lives (and that the two are related). This knowledge is very empowering, especially at my age.
In Dr. Sauvage’s autobiography section, I was impressed by the trials and tribulations he went through and how he managed them throughout his schooling and career. He was a humble man and that is so different from the stereotypical idea we have about surgeons. That is so nice to see and an inspiration for me since I want to be a cardiothoracic surgeon and a true healer.
Rachel Greene, Medical Student, St. Louis University