For over 16 years, Longmont resident and Boulder Community Health emergency room doctor Shannon Sovndal has lived a life to which not many can relate. In May, Sovndal released a book, “Fragile: Beauty in Chaos, Grace in Tragedy, and the Hope that Lives In Between,” detailing how his experiences gave him a renewed perspective on life.
“The inspiration really was just dealing with the real life of being an ER doctor,” Sovndal said. “I went into medicine a little bit naive and blind as to what that would entail. You think it's like a TV show, where you're going to go in there and save people's lives and it's going to be great. But really, you get really deeply involved with your patients and the struggle that they're facing and you face these life and death situations and it can't help but affect you on how you look at your life's meaning.”
Sovndal also is the medical director for Boulder Fire and American Medical Response emergency medical services. His journeys through highly stressful situations have increased his gratitude and shown him life can turn upside down at a moment’s notice. As Sovndal put it, life is similar to surfing a wave and his book explores a new relationship with the inescapable highs and lows of life.
“You see what we would think are these horrible things (in the ER), but really the realization that life is full of ups and downs and the more you experience on both sides, the more your whole world has opened up,” he said. “I used to be afraid of these bad moments, meaning you try to avoid them and you grip as tightly as you can to control your life, but the reality of it is, is that life is going to have ups and downs and there's going to be bad times and there's going to be good times. The more you're trying to control it, the more you're just going to be vexed over the whole thing.”
With the effects of the current coronavirus pandemic, many people are in one of those lows. Sovndal admits it has been “exhausting” working in medical services with the fear of spreading the virus to his family and wearing full personal protective equipment during his shifts. On the bright side, Sovndal is encouraged and said he believes the first wave of the virus is subsiding.
He and his wife, paramedic Stephanie Sovndal, share their thoughts on COVID-19 and other medical and life topics in their podcast, “Match on a Fire: Medicine and More Podcast.” Sovndal has dedicated “Fragile” to his wife, who has been by his side during his roller coaster life as an ER doctor.
“Fragile” has been earning high praise and five-star ratings from Amazon reviewers.
One reader stated: “He shares his thoughts while delivering patient care in what those of us that are emergency medicine clinicians would consider to be the hardest of cases. In doing so, I believe he demonstrates to all of us that we are not alone. It is OK to deeply feel emotions during (or after) a case, or to not have any feelings at all. This is the art of practicing emergency medicine. It shows that we are human.”
Another said, “‘Fragile’ by Dr. Shannon Sovndal, takes us on his journey to becoming an ‘ER doc.’ Love, family, chaos, tragedy, hope, death and living are many words that come to mind after reading Shannon’s book. ‘Fragile’ is a definite page-turner, which made me laugh and cry.”
Sovndal has plenty of stories to tell, but he said his book isn’t just a “cocktail party” account of his experiences.
“This isn't a book for people who want just stories of the ER,” Sovndal said. “I'm trying to tell them how every person that just experienced the pandemic and feels like life is fragile and they're scared, and they're wondering what does tomorrow bring? That's what this book is about. This book is about that is life; life is full of moments like this, good and bad. It’s how we perceive them and how we move forward that opens us up and lets us be resilient.”
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