MADreads

Story of survival

December 20th, 2007 Mary K. - Central

Living with a chronic illness can be difficult, and as Amy Silverstein points out in her book, Sick Girl, it can also be hard to live with a transplanted organ.  The difference between the two is that people expect someone to have problems with the chronic illness but not with a transplant.  The assumption may be that since the transplant worked, the recipient can live a normal and healthy life from then on.

Silverstein tells us in great detail why this is not the case.  The transplanted heart doesn’t respond to the nervous system so it responds very differently to stress and exercise and the immune system must be suppressed to prevent rejection.  This means taking a lot of unpleasant medications and being very susceptible to infections.

Silverstein does everything she can to keep up appearances.   She describes leaving her wedding reception to take her medicine and the many other tactics she employs to hide her fatigue and medical needs.  The truth is that she is not normal and requires a lot of medical attention. 

There is a fine line between self-pity and writing in a way that makes the reader emphathize.  Though she strikes a balance most of the time, Silverstein sometimes lapses into a self-pitying tone.  And I thought she could make a stronger pitch for the value of organ donations and could be more appreciative of the loss that made her own donated heart possible.

Silverstein has survived for 17 years, much longer than people with heart transplants usually do and for a time seemed to have lost her will to continue.  Interestingly, a desire to become a writer has kept her going.  Wisely she has written of what she knows intimately and for the most part this is an interesting and informative story of survival.

Entry Filed under: Memoir & Biography, Nonfiction