Exhale is the riveting memoir of a top transplant doctor who rode the emotional rollercoaster of saving and losing lives—until it was time to step back and reassess his own life.
A young father with a rare form of lung cancer who has been turned down for a transplant by several hospitals. A kid who was considered not “smart enough” to be worthy of a transplant. A young mother dying on the waiting list in front of her two small children. A father losing his oldest daughter after a transplant goes awry. The nights waiting for donor lungs to become available, understanding that someone needed to die so that another patient could live.
These are some of the stories in Exhale, a memoir about Dr. Weill’s ten years spent directing the lung transplant program at Stanford. Through these stories, he shows not only the miracle of transplantation, but also how it is a very human endeavor performed by people with strengths and weaknesses, powerful attributes, and profound flaws.
Exhale is an inside look at the world of high-stakes medicine, complete with the decisions that are confronted, the mistakes that are made, and the story of a transplant doctor’s slow recognition that he needed to step away from the front lines. This book is an exploration of holding on too tight, of losing one’s way, and of the power of another kind of decision—to leave behind everything for a fresh start.
Book Summary
"Exhale" should be read by every doctor—and by anyone—who stays up too late and works too much
–Philip C. Breen, MD, PhD (father of Dr. Lorna Breen)
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What People Are Saying
“Maturing from a hard-driving transplant doctor into a more compassionate clinician who finally allows himself to feel the anguish of the patients and their family, Dr. Weill finds he must confront his own unrelenting focus on treatment success. This is a riveting read.”
—Laurence M. Westreich, M.D, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine
With great clarity, David Weill captures the euphoria and intoxication of saving a life, alongside the brutal anguish of losing one and the lifelong trauma of burnout that ensues thereafter. A must read for everyone, including those who have lost themselves in who they're being for everyone else.
–Juliette Watt, Compassion Fatigue expert, TEDx Speaker.
“Dr Weill, I loved listening to your book and hearing you tell your story. You were so honest and authentic. Dr. Weill was my daughter's adult CF physician and Transplant physician at Stanford during the entire period he shared in this memoir. We were always so grateful that he was her physician and are honored to know him. Listening to the book was especially poignant to me as I know his voice and could see him in my mind throughout the hospital and in Palo Alto where we also lived. He described himself and the struggles of CF and transplant patients so well. His story is true to how we knew him and this field of transplantation. Our daughter was a success story thank goodness but not without the trauma of having a critically ill adult child and the rigors of transplant that are no walk in the park, but is also a miracle. If you want to read about an excellent physician and his inner life and the true story of lung transplantation then Exhale is an excellent read. So grateful you wrote this book and we will share it with the ones we love. I hope that people understand the remarkable work of transplantation from Exhale and the miracle gift that is offered by donor families. Because of the gift given to our daughter she is living a life of her dreams even with a new baby born of a surrogate mom and being married to her soulmate albeit it is still not always smooth sailing. Becoming a transplant patient is giving up one disease for another complication or two if you have a successful transplant but in her case it is all so worth it and we are so indebted to Dr. Weill.
— Robin Modlin (amazon review)
“Exhale" is a compelling exploration of the beguiling world of transplantation. David Weill cranks up the hood to show us the engine—the stunning technological wizardry and the towering human dedication, as well as the oil-stained innards of profit and ego. You won’t look at your lungs in the same way again!
–Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, author of "When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error.”
"The crowning achievement of Weill’s memoir is that its deepest messages are truly universal. We need to examine the effects of workplace cultures that award badges of honor for jam-packed schedules and long overtime hours. Everyone from high-level executives to stay-at-home moms like myself can appreciate how our busy-ness and distractions keep us from being present with those we love."
–Beth Bailey, TheFederalist.com
“I read the reviews and knew Exhale was more than a run-of-the-mill memoir about a doctor working in a transplant unit. Dr.Weill’s writing was so vivid and detailed I felt like I was part of the story. His anguish, grief, and joy exude from each page. At times I had to stop reading because I was crying with Dr.Weill and his patients. His empathetic nature was boundless, and this attribute endeared him to his patients. Considering how involved the process of having a transplant is, it's obvious why they become an extended family. Exhale is also the story of Dr. Weill’s evolution from total absorption with the well-being of each patient to his epiphany that he had to leave to save himself. During his career, it’s apparent that Dr. Weill got his wish to have his father’s brain and have his mother's huge heart. I hope Dr. Weills knows that too.”
— Mika (amazon review)
“This book is raw, honest, and deeply personal. David Weill gives us a peak into medicine and specifically transplant medicine. His own perspective runs the emotions from pure joy to disdain of being at the top of your game. Burnout is real in medicine and he tells it perfectly. His words are gripping and you can feel his soul through the pages. Transplant is many parts coming together to be successful, and no medical personnel or patient is unscathed by the emotional toll it takes, yet it can be beautiful and celebratory and it can also be earth shattering devastating. Read it, take it in and know our doctors are human like us.”
— (amazon customer)
“David Weill gives us a glimpse of the volatile and intense world of a transplant doctor, where split-second decisions can make the difference between life and death. “EXHALE” is a captivating story about the courage and also the toll it takes to work at this rarified level of medicine.”
–Daphne Merkin, author of 22 Minutes of Unconditional Love
“I could not put down David Weill's "Exhale"!
I incorrectly assumed "Exhale" would primarily address the challenging process of a lung transplant, where one person's unfortunate death may save the life of another person, who is anxiously waiting on a coveted transplant list for a phone call to rush to the operating theatre.
But "Exhale" covers much more: A broad array of appealing patients, most sympathetic; the progression of a successful career; the difficult challenges of politics among brilliant, striving colleagues in an elite, storied institution; the challenges of ethical decisions; the search for approval from, and then the aging and death of a Dad - and the pain of writing and then delivering the eulogy; the choice between work and family; the exhaustion of burnout; the impossible goal of 100% success when failure, often out of one's control, means death.
This would be wonderful reading for a student contemplating medical school or a late career professional wrestling with exhaustion.
I was lucky to have known David forty years ago as a classmate at The Isidore Newman School in New Orleans. David's tenacity on the basketball court, coached by the legendary Coach Fitz (see "Coach" by Michael Lewis), foreshadowed a brilliant, meaningful career, where he saved lives and led large teams of doctors and healthcare professionals.
Well done David! Congratulations on a model career - and thank you for sharing your story.”
— Jeffrey Lee Moore (amazon review)
About the author
David Weill is the former Director of the Center for Advanced Lung Disease and the Lung Transplant Program at Stanford. He is currently the Principal of Weill Consulting Group, which focuses on improving the delivery of transplant care.
Dr. Weill’s writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Salon, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, STAT, and the Washington Post. He also has been interviewed on CNN and by the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Wall Street Journal.
