“Oxygen” is a fiction novel that is written by a practicing anesthesiologist and free-lance medical writer, Carol Cassella.  Her experience in the field in combination with her detailed writing style gives the reader a unique perspective and detailed look into the trials of a physician.

            The novel introduces and follows an experienced anesthesiologist, Dr. Marie Heaton, through a malpractice lawsuit that threatens and alters both her professional and personal life.  Dr. Heaton is a dedicated anesthesiologist who has modestly traded the traditional family life, which she experiences only through phone calls with her sister in Texas, for a life of being on call in the operating room.  Dr. Heaton’s life hits a wall when a child, Jolene Jansen, dies on the operating table during a routine surgery to remove a cyst from the base of her spine.  After Jolene’s mysterious and sudden death on the operating table, Dr. Heaton is baffled and guilt-laden.  Her once seemingly normal life becomes plagued with the chore of discovering what exactly occurred the day of Jolene’s surgery and the task of forgiving herself for the pain she has caused little Jolene’s mother.  Atop the mystery of Jolene’s death, the guilt that Dr. Heaton feels, and the malpractice lawsuit that looms against both the hospital and Dr. Heaton’s finances, Dr. Heaton learns that she is also under criminal investigation for the death of Jolene Jansen.

            As the novel continues, Dr. Heaton questions her own judgments as a medical professional and looses confidence in her ability to care for patients.  After an incident in which Dr. Heaton leaves the operating room mid-surgery, fearing another outcome like that of Jolene’s, she is asked by the hospital CEO to take a leave of absence.  Thinking that a break from her hospital in Seattle would do her some good, Dr. Heaton visits her sister, who has chosen the traditional family path, and aging father in Texas.  It is her visit to her father’s house that helps to unravel some of the mystery surrounding Jolene Jansen’s death.  When she returns to Seattle, Dr. Heaton uncovers the not-so-mysterious circumstances that led to the unintended, but not accidental death of Jolene.  In the climatic ending, Dr. Heaton finds answers not only about Jolene’s death, but also about the colleagues she thought were friends and the hospital staff she thought was professional.