Personal Stories

A Change of Heart by James Chapin. Cypress House, © 1994. The author, who once traveled the world as Bozo the Clown, tells his story from misdiagnosis and medication balancing to death sentence, reprieve, final diagnosis, the long wait for a donor, the operation, the recovery period. Reviewer Camille Ranker-Hathaway, CRNA and triple bypass patient, found the book to be "a valuable, delightfully accessible resource for anyone facing heart surgery."

A Gift from the Heart...A Sharing of One Man's Heart Transplant Experience by Jim Gleason. An on-line version of a book about Mr. Gleason's transplant (including "Some Days are Diamonds") with many articles on various related subjects. (not available in bookstores). See The Transplant Library at http://www.transweb/library/books.html

Dying for Life: The Journey to Transplant by John L. Landers. Distinctive Publishing Corp., Plantation, FL © 1993, 192 pages, ISBN 0-942963-39-3. A recipient's account of his highly personal, somewhat painful, and ultimately successful road to heart transplantation. To order, send a check or money order for $15.95 to Distinctive Publishing Corp. Box 17868, Plantation, FL 33318-7868 305-975-2413 or 602-820-2806.

Extraordinary Times by Sharon Torres. A frank description of the author's experiences before and after liver transplantation. She wrote it for people who are facing transplant and as a way to teach the general public something about transplant issues. It is short, honest, and very readable. The book was self-published. To order a copy, send a check or money order for $ 11.00 to Sharon Torres, PO Box 5428, San Mateo, CA 94402.

Heart to Heart, by Herbert Budnick. Health Press, Santa Fe, NM © 1991, 117 pages. Specifically about the emotional side of heart disease including information for spouses.

Life After Transplantation by Ellen Gordon Woodall. American Organ Transplant Association, Missouri City, TX © 1993. A compilation of personal experiences by recipients and their families. Includes a section on medications, their side effects, and suggestions for dealing with some of the side effects. This publication is distributed free by the American Transplant Association, PO Box 277, Missouri City, TX 77459 713-261-2682

LifeLine: How One Night Changed Five Lives by Mary Zimmeth Schomaker, New Horizon Press 1996, 308 pages. This is a true story, based on the experience of the author's relative who becomes the donor for four recipients. This book provides insights into the emotions felt by the donor's family and friend, the recipients and medical personnel involved. It is well-written and suspenseful.

LIFE ROW A Case Study of How a Family Can Survive a Medical Crisis, by Ed Linz. Exchange Publishing, P.O. Box 2394, Springfield, VA 22152-2394 or P.O. Box 14347 Spokane, WA 99214-0347. Library of Congress #97-60095, ISBN 0-9656895-0-6 340 pages. Ed Linz a heart recipient, and member of NCAC TRIO. A true story, as told about how a family fights to survive when one of its members, apparently in good health, learns that he has a mysterious, killer disease. LIFE ROW becomes an emotional roller coaster as the family confronts a series of challenges, including open-heart surgery, a near-death/out-of-body experience, and ultimately a life-saving operation. It includes anecdotes on high school teaching, nuclear submarines, "miracle drugs" and some of the author's 42 different hospital roommates. The final chapter, 10 Steps to Survive an Extended Medical Crisis, is a superb compilation of lessons learned based on the author's four years on LIFE ROW. $16 plus $4 shipping/handling. http://www.iea.com/~adlinkex/liferow.html, Published March 1997, FAX: 509-455-7940, e-mail: exchpub@erols.com.

Raising Lazarus by Robert Pensack, MD. and Dwight Williams. G. P. Putnam's Sons Press. © 1994. A recounting of the medical and psychological hurdles Pensack had to clear from his diagnosis through numerous operations to his life-saving heart transplant. His experiences led him to a pursue a medical career, specializing in psychiatry.

Taking Heart by A. C. Greene. Simon and Schuster, New York, © 1990, 209 pages. A writer/historian's story about his experiences with heart transplantation. More than just an autobiography, Taking Heart provides some excellent background on the history of transplantation, all presented in an interesting and readable fashion. We agree with reviewer Norman Cousins, who described this book as "A remarkable combination of science reporting, human interest, and practical advice."

Last Updated August 19, 1997