Pheo Coffee and Book Box

Ah....Covid-19. You've been a pain in the bum. My area is sorta getting into the swing of things but I swear to God I'll be the last one out of quarantine. I'm a bit suspicious of this gung-ho attitude towards this. I kinda think we're going to get another wave of sickness with everyone out and about. That's because I'm a cynic. 

So instead, I'm just going to keep cleaning the house. It's a long process. Basically, I inherited a bunch of items from one parent, some grandparents and cousins. Some from death but some from their divorces. One of my cousins gave me all her wedding china. I'm going through it all (it's been sitting here since before I went to Scotland) and trying to organize stuff as well as get rid (as environmentally as I can) of all this excess. I have no idea how I became the clearing house for everyone's stuff!

What does this have to do with this box? Nothing. I mean, I guess we could link a pandemic to medicine or something but that's not quite it. I stumped upon this box when I was looking for a new book subscription. It was on cratejoy but I can't find it on there now (I only received one month before it canceled from there). Cratejoy tends to have some long running companies on there and then some that move off for one reason or another. I usually have one subscription from there at any given time. 

Anyways, this was a medical book club, with coffee, created by a doctor to help fund surgeries. 

You can find Pheo on their own website and on Etsy. 

I was hesitant to post because Pheo had announced that it was closing but I decided to go ahead and do one post with the links in case. I'll put all the information I gathered below. I do appreciate that they're so transparent about shuttering---unlike some boxes that just vanish.

Lets get to the dirty: The box I received came with coffee and a book. Also included was a pamphlet talking about x-rays and two additional cards (one featuring a lovely lady and the other a business card). The box cost me around $35 (there abouts) but they had different options on their website (Like fancy gift ones). The pretty art deco box doesn't come with every option but I couldn't tell you how they sorted it. 

I got to pick my coffee/book combo from a selection. I don't actually drink coffee (I'll have a cappuccino or latte on occassion) but not coffee. My dad drinks coffee though, so I dropped this off to him and he thought it was pretty good. If this company had a tea version I would have been in trouble. I think this would work out to a better investment if you were a big coffee drinker. I prefer my non-fiction books to lean towards science and history of science so that's why I was still keen. 

The box I picked was the X-Ray box which came with Wilhelm Rontgen's X: Medium Roast Brazilian Breakfast Blend. I picked this box because I knew my dad liked the medium roast. The other coffee's are also medical themed; The other flavors feature Hippocrates, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Dr. Oliver Norepi (all medium roasts), Florence Nightingale, and Dr. Morton Dulci (dark roasts). 

I'll admit that I didn't know too much about x-rays, (thus the reason for this box theme). I'm not sure the book goes into it because I haven't read it yet (I know!). 

The card on the right gives a brief run-down on the history of the invention of the x-ray by Wilhelm Rontgen (our coffee namesake!) who was a German physicist. While experimenting with the opacity of objects subjected to rays he took the first radiographic image. I've seen the image before (on reddit actually) but didn't know the rest. The image is a picture of his wife's hand.  Rontgen won the nobel prize. 

The books on offer (according to the website) were:

1. Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh - Marsh is a neurosurgeon. His book is a memoir of his time in the operating suite. I picked this book because of my migraines and during one odd moment when I was having a really, really bad time with them, I read all the WebMD/Google worst case scenarios and convinced myself of the worst. My doctor (a migraine specialist who does not read the WebMD/Google worst case scenarios) realized I had a Vitamin D deficiency. 
2. Trauma Room Two by Philip Allen Green - Green was an ER physician. His book is about the emergency room and all the moments that happen within for staff, patients and family. My mind immediately went to this show I would watch occasionally in the UK called "24 Hours in the A&E". 
3. Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Year by Michael J. Collins - Collins is writing about his residency at the Mayo Clinic. I don't recall this one being an option when I looked at the books but perhaps it always was? I think it's a really interesting look and would be great for anyone thinking about becoming a doctor. 
4. Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything In Between by Theresa Brown - Brown is an oncology nurse and contributor to the New York Times. This is a memoir about her first year on the job as well as issues of mortality. Also a great pick, we do not handle death (as a society) very well. 

Isn't the art deco box so pretty? I really think it's my favorite design out of every box I've ever had. I'm a sucker for an art deco/art neuvou look though. ​

Pheo website, including section about the number of people they've helped through funding surgery
Pheo Instagram
Washington Post's "Doctor has a side operation: Selling Coffee To Help Pay for Healthcare"

The show I was talking about is called "24 Hours in the A&E". A&E stands for Accidents and Emergencies and is the equivalent to the U.S.' Emergency Room (ER). The action follows a few patients and takes place over the course of a day. There are some super sad moments, happy moments, ridiculous moments. I was fascinated by it just from a spectator's viewpoint. I mean, people would come in mangled or with super weird symptoms and often times would leave patched up. I have zero desire to be a doctor though. That is not my jam.