THE MONSTER WITHIN
“FIVE BOOKS IN ONE”
Sheldon Cohen M.D. FACP
DEDICATED TO
DAUGHTER GAIL COHEN AND FAVORITE PROOF READER
SHANE AND AMANDA DOLLARHITE—Thanks for Derek and Rylie
GRANDDAUGHTER CARLY GODWIN—My website developer (cohenebooks.com)
U of Oklahoma Health and Exercise Science
GRANDDAUGHTER ALEXA COHEN—Brown University Neuroscience
I LOVE YOU ALL
Copyright 2013 Sheldon Cohen,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1354-9
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
A graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Sheldon Cohen has practiced internal medicine, served as a medical director of the Alexian Brother’s Medical Center in Northwest Suburban Chicago, and served as the medical director of two managed care organizations: Cigna Health plan of Illinois and Humanicare Plus of Illinois. The author taught internal medicine and physical diagnosis to medical students from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and the Chicago Medical School. Recognizing the fact that busy physicians are pressed for time and thus often fail to capture a thorough medical history, the author perfected one of the first computerized medical history systems for private practice and wrote a paper on his experience with 1500 patients who utilized the system. This was one of the early efforts in promoting electronic health records, a work in progress to this day. Serving as a consultant for Joint Commission Resources of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the author did quality consultations at hospitals in the United States, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Copenhagen, Denmark, and served as a consultant to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine, assisting them in the development of a hospital accrediting body. The author lectures to lay audiences on Risk Factor Analysis, Early Detection and Prevention, Symptoms Never to Ignore, The Prevention of Medical Errors, How to Take Charge of Your Own Healthcare, Hormones Nerves and stress, and other topics of a medical nature.
Dr. Cohen is the author of nineteen books.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
The Monster Within is a two part book
The first part is the story; a fictional report based upon actual cases.
The second part is four appendices excerpted from my past writings that have relevance to the story and amplify some of the details.
I recommend reading the story straight through and use the four appendices as little mini books for further amplification and education if desired.
“FIVE BOOKS IN ONE”
ALSO BY SHELDON COHEN
A Jewish Journey
A Jewish Story
The Twins
Brainstorm
Holy Warrior Trojan Horses
Revenge
Bad Blood
The Monster Within
The History of Physics from 2000BCE to 1945
World War IV: Militant Islam’s Struggle for World Control
The Coming Healthcare Revolution: Take Control of Your Health
The making of a Physician
The Slim Book of health Pearls Series:
Am I at Risk? The patient’s Guide to Health Risk Factors
Hormones, Nerves and Stress
Man the Barricades: The Story of the Immune System
Symptoms Never to Ignore
The Complete Medical Examination
The Prevention of Medical Errors
Challenging Diagnoses
CHAPTER 1
The Richards were an average middle class family living in Morton Grove, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Married twenty years, Ezra and Alvina Richards had three children: Betty, just turned 18, soon to graduate from Maine East High School, in Park Ridge, an adjacent suburb to Morton Grove; and their twin 14-year-olds Ethan and Emily in the freshman class at Maine East.
While raising their three children they had everything they needed within a mile radius from their triple level, four bedroom home. This was a busy time; Betty, soon to graduate from Maine East, was in frantic preparation for the Maine East senior prom. She had no problem getting a date as she had been going steady with a fellow classmate, Steve Winokur, ever since their freshman year. Prom night was tonight, and Betty would soon have to get presentable.
“Don’t forget, Betty, you have to promise me that if Steve can’t drive, you’ll call us any hour of the day or night and we’ll pick you up,” said Alvina with a worried look on her face.
Got to be careful, Betty thought; mom’s got her serious face on. “What do you mean, if Steve can’t drive?” she asked.
“Well, if he’s had too much to drink, I mean…”
Betty interrupted with a large sigh, “But I told you, mom, for the fifth time, Steve doesn’t ever touch a drop.”
As if Alvina didn’t hear a thing, she said, “But I’m told that prom night is different. That’s when the drinking starts, so I’ve heard. You’d have to call us because we don’t want you driving his car and we wouldn’t want him driving if he had something to drink, especially as a non-drinker who takes his first drink. Teen agers don’t hold their liquor very well. I read about it all the time in the newspapers; too many accidents out there. You know how I worry.”
“I know mom, how can I ever forget since I live with you and hear you worrying every day, Ms. Worry wort. I think you told me ten times already. Anyhow, I remember once when Steve tasted something, he said yuck and that was the end of that experiment. I never had anything but a little wine. Where would I be able to get alcohol, since
