The provider
A nurse and psychiatric nurse practitioner trained to recognize suffering, understand trauma, and care for the person behind the symptoms.
A memoir by Laura Baker
Life After
Survival
A Story From Both Sides of the Bed
For twenty years, Laura Baker built a life while knowing that her heart might fail at any time—becoming a nurse, a nurse practitioner, a wife, and a mother of three while living with the constant awareness that her future was never guaranteed.
Survival is not the end of the story. It is only the beginning.
About the book
What comes after the crisis?
Life After Survival is a deeply personal memoir of illness, resilience, and the complicated relationship between patients and the people entrusted to heal them.
Diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy at twenty years old, Laura learned to navigate life between uncertainty and determination. But the greatest threats she faced were not always the disease itself. They were the moments when she knew something was wrong and was not believed. A defective device that nearly took her life. A medical system that sometimes saw her as a diagnosis rather than a person. The trauma of losing control over her own body and her own care.
Written from the perspective of someone who has lived as both a critically ill patient and a healthcare provider, the book explores a truth few people talk about: after the surgeries are over, the monitors are silent, and the crisis has passed, there is still a life left to build.
This is the story of how trauma lingers, how trust is rebuilt, and how a person learns not just to stay alive, but to truly live.
Buy on Amazon Full book description →Both sides of the bed
One life. Two perspectives.
Laura’s life as a healthcare provider did not begin after her life as a patient. The two experiences developed together, shaping how she came to understand medical trauma and medical PTSD.
The patient
A woman living for decades with serious illness, uncertainty, invasive treatment, and the loss of control that can continue long after the medical crisis ends.
From the blog
Writing beyond the book
Essays about medical trauma, medical PTSD, healthcare, survival, and the life that continues after crisis.
Speaking & education
For healthcare audiences
Laura is developing educational presentations for healthcare professionals about medical trauma, medical PTSD, patient-centered care, and the insights that come from living as both provider and patient.
For conferences, continuing-education programs, and healthcare organizations interested in future presentations, Laura welcomes inquiries.
Speaking information