Dr. Fulkerson’s Book Tells Heartwarming, Heartbreaking Stories Of ‘The Baby Hospital’
January 25, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.
Dr. Fulkerson’s Book Tells Heartwarming, Heartbreaking Stories Of ‘The Baby Hospital’
By David [email protected]
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One doesn’t have to be in medicine to read and enjoy pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Daniel Fulkerson’s book “Nothing Good Happens At ... The Baby Hospital – The Strange, Silly World of Pediatric Brain Surgery.”
“I want this to appeal and interest people who have no medical knowledge,” the Warsaw graduate said in a telephone interview Tuesday morning from Indianapolis.
When someone reads his book, he said, he doesn’t want them to think it’s dry. He wants them to laugh about it and be inspired by the kids’ stories.
Fulkerson, the son of Dave and Eugenia Fulkerson, Warsaw, is an associate professor of neurological surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine and the assistant residency program director in the university’s Department of Neurological Surgery.
He earned two undergraduate degrees at the University of Notre Dame, graduated from medical school at I.U. and served in the U.S. Air Force, according to the book’s jacket.
“I think the job I have now is very interesting,” he said.
The kids and their families who have come through his door have interesting stories to tell. The professors and colleagues he’s worked with over the years also have compelling stories, he said. With his book, he said he wanted to make those stories interesting to those outside of medicine, too.
Over the years, he kept a journal of his life and cases. Some of the cases he’s been involved in have been quite memorable. Last year, he decided he needed to put those stories in one spot so he began working on the book.
“Some of the stories go back 15 years,” he said. “One of the main character’s career ended last year and I felt like I had an ending to the book.”
Writing it was kind of a hobby for him. He’d work on it when he had the time or when the mood struck him.
“To me, it was kind of a fun thing rather than a chore,” he said, noting the hard part was getting started.
For his book, he changed the names of people and places. Some characters are conglomerates of several people. He did talk to some of the people he wrote about, even before he began writing the book, and told them that this was what he wanted to do to ensure they were OK with it from the get-go. Fulkerson said he wanted to respect each person’s dignity and privacy.
“It’s not a history book. I didn’t want to make it like ‘Game of Thrones’ where people had to memorize a lot of names,”?Fulkerson said.
Before handing it off to a professional editor, he did several rewrites to keep it consistent.
“When I write, I go through it at least four or five times,” he said. The first writing was a rough draft, the second fixed the flow and the third, fourth and fifth were an opportunity for him to proofread it and check for consistency.
Before this book, Fulkerson had written a chapter for a textbook and several journal papers. For the scientific papers, he said his wife, Amy, also a Warsaw graduate, helped edit.
But “Nothing Good Happens” is his first book and an editor at the publisher, Archway Publishing, a division of Simon & Schuster, helped edit it.
It was published in December and has received good reaction from readers.
“So far, it’s been very positive. We started out with a limited release and are trying to build momentum. The people at the hospital were very excited, and for them it was like a trip down memory lane. They lived through some of this,” Fulkerson said. “I’m starting to hear from people I don’t know.”
He said he will often hear from people through Twitter or Facebook about his book.
A book signing is planned for April at the Festival of Books in Los Angeles. Fulkerson said he’s had some small book signing events and may have more in Indianapolis.
The book is available on Amazon.com, where it’s starting to build a momentum; BarnesandNoble.com and similar book websites, he said. It can be purchased as an eBook, hard cover and paperback. The next goal is to get a broader audience, he said.
The most popular books published in 2016, according to GoodReads.com, were “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts 1 and 2” at No. 1 and “When Breath Becomes Air” at No. 2. “Breath” is a memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis who attempts to answer the question, “What makes a life worth living?”
Fulkerson said people get interested in stuff about the brain, especially children. For his book, he wanted to offer a different take on it and hopefully people will enjoy it.
His book title, “Nothing Good Happens ...” first appears on page five of the first chapter. A professor is going through a slide show of cases and is talking about a baby with a subdural hematoma resulting from abuse. The professor tells Fulkerson and the other students that there really wasn’t anything to do for the baby and, “Remember, kids, nothing good happens at the Baby Hospital.”
“That shows up a few times,” Fulkerson said about the line which became his book title. “It’s a running theme. One of the things about my job is that there is no happy reason I’d go see your kid. ... Families deal with these unbelieveable tragedies and it’s an honor for me to be a part of their lives while they’re going through this.”
He said the baby hospital can be a great joy if you can help them through their case, but there are a lot of tragedies.
Every day at the hospital, Fulkerson said, interesting stories come through. If people like his book and want to hear more stories, he’d be willing to write a follow-up to it.
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[[In-content Ad]]
One doesn’t have to be in medicine to read and enjoy pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Daniel Fulkerson’s book “Nothing Good Happens At ... The Baby Hospital – The Strange, Silly World of Pediatric Brain Surgery.”
“I want this to appeal and interest people who have no medical knowledge,” the Warsaw graduate said in a telephone interview Tuesday morning from Indianapolis.
When someone reads his book, he said, he doesn’t want them to think it’s dry. He wants them to laugh about it and be inspired by the kids’ stories.
Fulkerson, the son of Dave and Eugenia Fulkerson, Warsaw, is an associate professor of neurological surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine and the assistant residency program director in the university’s Department of Neurological Surgery.
He earned two undergraduate degrees at the University of Notre Dame, graduated from medical school at I.U. and served in the U.S. Air Force, according to the book’s jacket.
“I think the job I have now is very interesting,” he said.
The kids and their families who have come through his door have interesting stories to tell. The professors and colleagues he’s worked with over the years also have compelling stories, he said. With his book, he said he wanted to make those stories interesting to those outside of medicine, too.
Over the years, he kept a journal of his life and cases. Some of the cases he’s been involved in have been quite memorable. Last year, he decided he needed to put those stories in one spot so he began working on the book.
“Some of the stories go back 15 years,” he said. “One of the main character’s career ended last year and I felt like I had an ending to the book.”
Writing it was kind of a hobby for him. He’d work on it when he had the time or when the mood struck him.
“To me, it was kind of a fun thing rather than a chore,” he said, noting the hard part was getting started.
For his book, he changed the names of people and places. Some characters are conglomerates of several people. He did talk to some of the people he wrote about, even before he began writing the book, and told them that this was what he wanted to do to ensure they were OK with it from the get-go. Fulkerson said he wanted to respect each person’s dignity and privacy.
“It’s not a history book. I didn’t want to make it like ‘Game of Thrones’ where people had to memorize a lot of names,”?Fulkerson said.
Before handing it off to a professional editor, he did several rewrites to keep it consistent.
“When I write, I go through it at least four or five times,” he said. The first writing was a rough draft, the second fixed the flow and the third, fourth and fifth were an opportunity for him to proofread it and check for consistency.
Before this book, Fulkerson had written a chapter for a textbook and several journal papers. For the scientific papers, he said his wife, Amy, also a Warsaw graduate, helped edit.
But “Nothing Good Happens” is his first book and an editor at the publisher, Archway Publishing, a division of Simon & Schuster, helped edit it.
It was published in December and has received good reaction from readers.
“So far, it’s been very positive. We started out with a limited release and are trying to build momentum. The people at the hospital were very excited, and for them it was like a trip down memory lane. They lived through some of this,” Fulkerson said. “I’m starting to hear from people I don’t know.”
He said he will often hear from people through Twitter or Facebook about his book.
A book signing is planned for April at the Festival of Books in Los Angeles. Fulkerson said he’s had some small book signing events and may have more in Indianapolis.
The book is available on Amazon.com, where it’s starting to build a momentum; BarnesandNoble.com and similar book websites, he said. It can be purchased as an eBook, hard cover and paperback. The next goal is to get a broader audience, he said.
The most popular books published in 2016, according to GoodReads.com, were “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts 1 and 2” at No. 1 and “When Breath Becomes Air” at No. 2. “Breath” is a memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis who attempts to answer the question, “What makes a life worth living?”
Fulkerson said people get interested in stuff about the brain, especially children. For his book, he wanted to offer a different take on it and hopefully people will enjoy it.
His book title, “Nothing Good Happens ...” first appears on page five of the first chapter. A professor is going through a slide show of cases and is talking about a baby with a subdural hematoma resulting from abuse. The professor tells Fulkerson and the other students that there really wasn’t anything to do for the baby and, “Remember, kids, nothing good happens at the Baby Hospital.”
“That shows up a few times,” Fulkerson said about the line which became his book title. “It’s a running theme. One of the things about my job is that there is no happy reason I’d go see your kid. ... Families deal with these unbelieveable tragedies and it’s an honor for me to be a part of their lives while they’re going through this.”
He said the baby hospital can be a great joy if you can help them through their case, but there are a lot of tragedies.
Every day at the hospital, Fulkerson said, interesting stories come through. If people like his book and want to hear more stories, he’d be willing to write a follow-up to it.
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