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Second Lives: The Journey of Brain-Injury Survivors and Their Healers Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Ralph B. Lilly (Author), Diane F. Kramer (Author), Joyce Stamp Lilly (Author, Narrator),
5.0 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

“Discharged from a hospital just means you’re not dead.” These words of Ralph B. Lilly, M.D., describe his early struggle to recover from a traumatic brain injury. Lilly was a forty-four-year-old practicing neurologist sitting on his motorcycle at a red light when a drunk driver rear-ended him in 1980. In the ICU, after regaining consciousness and being told what happened, he asked, “What’s a hospital? What’s a motorcycle?” This tragic experience transformed his life and his approach to his neurology practice: doctors treat those with brain injury; but loved ones heal them.

Second Lives: The Journey of Brain Injury Survivors and Their Healers is written by Dr. Lilly and Diane F. Kramer. After his death in 2021, Kramer completed the book with the assistance of Lilly’s wife Joyce Stamp Lilly. This memoir weaves together Ralph Lilly’s experience with a collage of stories about his patients and their healers. After his recovery, Lilly retrained in the emerging field of behavioral neurology, which focuses on behavior, memory, cognition, and emotion after brain injury.

His clinical skills and expert witness testimony were sought by physicians, survivors, families, and attorneys to secure the best “second life” for survivors. His many patients marveled at his uniquely compassionate approach: “What doctor gives you his cell number and says call any time?” Lilly’s pioneering career spanned forty years from Brown University’s Butler Psychiatric Hospital in Rhode Island to Nexus Health System and private practice in Houston, Texas. He treated ER and hospital inpatients whose loved ones were in acute quandary, as well as outpatients who’d long given up finding a doctor who knew how to help. Lilly’s memoir is full of heart, not science, and will provide insight to general readers, family, and friends of patients with brain injury, as well as those who treat them.

His narration is unintentionally poignant, often punctuated by wry humor. He generously incorporates the words of his patients and their families in telling their stories. Their gratitude for his care is profound. As one former patient said, “Without Dr. Lilly, I’d be dead or in jail.”

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  1. Listening Length
    6 hours and 21 minutes
  2. Author
    Ralph B. Lilly, see all
  3. Narrator
    Loren C. Steffy, see all
  4. Audible release date
    February 28, 2024
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Stoney Creek Publishing
  7. ASIN
    B0CWPBLV9Y
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length 6 hours and 21 minutes
Author Ralph B. Lilly, Diane F. Kramer, Joyce Stamp Lilly
Narrator Loren C. Steffy, Joyce Stamp Lilly
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date February 28, 2024
Publisher Stoney Creek Publishing
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0CWPBLV9Y
Best Sellers Rank #59,957 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#100 in Neuroscience (Books)
#122 in Biographies of Medical Professionals (Audible Books & Originals)
#209 in Nervous System Diseases (Books)

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5 out of 5 stars
19 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be an extraordinary account of healing journeys, with one review noting how the viewpoints are marvelously blended with caring. Moreover, the love story receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as a true testament of love and humanity.

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5 customers mention "Impact"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book inspirational and informative, describing it as an extraordinary story of healing journeys. One customer notes how the viewpoints are marvelously blended with caring, while another mentions how it captures the insight of a physician.

"“Second Lives” captured well the insight of a physician as well as a traumatic brain injury patient/survivor and a compassionate healer...." Read more

"This book is a touching and realistic look at individuals with devastating brain injuries and their ability to recover and adapt to a different yet..." Read more

"...to a person with a brain injury and found this book comforting and inspirational...." Read more

"...It is beautifully written and has a clear passionate message about “healers” and the impact of brain injury that I wish I had heard earlier in my..." Read more

3 customers mention "Love story"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the love story in the book, with one describing it as a true testament of love and humanity.

"...Ultimately, the book is a true testament of love and humanity; love of his beloved wife and his healer, and his patients and their healers...." Read more

"...What would we do without healers and devoted caregivers. Ultimately a love story!!!" Read more

"Excellent resource for caregivers & a warm story of love and recovery..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Monica barry
    5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary story of healing journeys…
    Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    “Second Lives” captured well the insight of a physician as well as a traumatic brain injury patient/survivor and a compassionate healer. The soul is well presented and nourished through stories of his own and his patients remarkable road of healing journeys. His long standing practice as a neurologist and also becoming a pioneer in behavioral neurology through his unique first hand experience of TBI and knowledge contributed a very important role and lifeline for both TBI survivors and their healers. Viewpoints were marvelously blended with caring, courage, compassion,wisdom, restoration and guidance. This book is packed with information and inspiration. As a nurse who has experience of taking care of TBI patients, Dr. Lilly’s chronicles are even more inspirational. Ultimately, the book is a true testament of love and humanity; love of his beloved wife and his healer, and his patients and their healers. Perhaps, all people affected by TBI and also anyone who is going through
    life-changing difficult challenges in their lives. Dr. Lilly delivered the silver lining of hope and resilience to regenerate one’s authentic power to illuminate the passage of healing journeys for all mankind.
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  • Sheril
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for caregivers & a warm story of love and recovery
    Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This book is a touching and realistic look at individuals with devastating brain injuries and their ability to recover and adapt to a different yet still meaningful life. The active presence and support of a caregiver is vital to recovery. The examples of friends and family members transitioning to full time and determined caregivers, their loving support of the brain injured person, often sacrificing their own well being, is also a major theme in this story. As someone who has experienced the caregiver role, I must say the authors provide an accurate and sympathetic description of the process of trauma, recovery, and the demands facing those with brain injury and their caregivers. An excellent resource for those finding themselves suddenly forced into such roles, and for professional caregivers as well.
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  • Treno
    5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational and informative read
    Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I am married to a person with a brain injury and found this book comforting and inspirational. It also made me feel less alone as we navigate the world with my partners new brain. If you know anyone with a brain injury excellent read if you like inspirational stories of those who overcome and find new paths it’s a great read. I’m just glad this book found me.
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  • James C Grotta MD
    5.0 out of 5 stars I knew Ralph Lilly and shared an office with him for the last 10 years he was in practice.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I was overwhelmed by hearing Ralph’s voice (and his wife Joyce's) emerge from these pages. I felt that they both were sitting there next to me telling me his extraordinary story. It is beautifully written and has a clear passionate message about “healers” and the impact of brain injury that I wish I had heard earlier in my career. I am glad that the world now has this chronicle of Ralph’s remarkable journey and contribution to the caring professions. I hope it reaches a wide audience—I have ordered more copies to distribute to our entire team of physicians and nurses caring for stroke patients.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • SKY DAUER
    5.0 out of 5 stars Such an important story
    Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I am a slow reader yet I found this hard to put down. I am always intrigued by behavior, karma with true stories. Informative, educational and very relatable. I finished the book and my mind is still very involved with Ralph Lilly. I wish I had met him. Don't let the neuroscience stop you from reading this book. It may change how you view the people you meet that don't behave like you think they should. What would we do without healers and devoted caregivers. Ultimately a love story!!!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Jude E. Theriot
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Trail-blazing Physician
    Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2024
    I had the honor of working with Ralph Lilly for ten years. I had known much of his story from our personal conversations and clinical discussions, but there was much I hadn't known until I read this remarkable book, which has opened up aspects of his life and work that were previously unknown to me. If I can summarize what I learned from Ralph, and what a reader will get a sense of through this book, is this: there is more than one way to be a physician in this world. Especially when it comes to brain injury medicine, a field in which patients so often fall between the cracks, it's important to forge new paths, letting compassion and concern for the well-being of the patient be the North Star of that journey. This is what Ralph did. His unique perspective as physician and patient placed him at the forefront of the emerging field of neurobehavior and served as a withering rebuttal to the nihilism that those of us who have practiced in this field have witnessed and continue to witness every day. His combination of compassion and intelligence has served as an example to me, not only as a neurologist and a physician, but also as a person, and there is much to be gained from this remarkable book. He blazed his own trail, and we are better because of it.
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  • PadreDoc
    5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you for your service
    Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2023
    This book is a lovely acknowledgement of all the work and dedication by healers and caregivers for the advancement of head injury recovery. Dr. Lilly is both brutally honest and optimistically hopeful about outcomes and the dedication required to improve patient lives. He also recognizes the faith and hard work required by the patient, the medical team, and the family. It is a collaborative effort that tests everyone.
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  • BeccaDot
    5.0 out of 5 stars RESILIENCY AND COURAGE
    Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2023
    This book is one everyone should read. Not only for those patients and families who have experienced the pain of brain injury, but any neurological trauma. Dr. Lilly shoots out from the pages of this book as does his soulmate and wife Joyce. If you've ever questioned miracles in and of themselves then this book will restore your confidence. But it's Dr. Lilly's life work. He lived it. Spread the word!
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