Are you a patient struggling to reconcile illness with the life you planned? A family member aching to help but unsure how? A healthcare professional wondering whether what you gave today was truly what was needed?
Healing Together offers 54 true stories drawn from 47 years of practice in critical care and nephrology—stories that reveal the shared humanity at the heart of illness. Bruce G. Bartlow, MD, invites patients, families, nurses, physicians, therapists, and caregivers into a deeper conversation about what it means to heal.
Moving from the first stirrings of fear through grief, love, struggle, hope, and spiritual awakening, these stories illuminate the barriers that often separate those who suffer from those who serve. When those barriers fall, something profound emerges: connection, grace, and mutual transformation.
Healing Together blends the power of narrative medicine to foster empathy by caregivers for patients, with ethical reflection, and spiritual insight. We are reminded that illness is not solely a biological event. It is a deeply human and often spiritual journey—one that calls forth courage, compassion, and community from all involved.
About the Author
Bruce G. Bartlow, MD, is a physician with nearly five decades of experience in internal medicine, nephrology, and critical care. A graduate of Northwestern University and Northwestern Medical School, he completed residency and fellowship training before serving in the U.S. Army. His career has included leadership roles in medical ethics, renal transplant programs, and hospital medical staff committees across California.
Dr. Bartlow's work spans eras of profound medical challenge, including the early HIV epidemic and the COVID crisis. These experiences, along with international service and decades of patient care, deepened his commitment to narrative medicine and the spiritual dimensions of illness. He is the author of Medical Care of the Soul and co-author of Healing through Times of Trouble. Healing Together reflects the wisdom gained from 47 years of listening to patients, families, and healthcare colleagues at life's most vulnerable moments.
