Halfway through Sick Girl...

RETELL:  In the last 2 weeks, I’ve had the chance to read from chapter 13 to chapter 21 in the book titled Sick Girl by Amy Silverstein.  After my last blog, Amy’s boyfriend Scott had just proposed to her before her heart transplant.  After her surgery, she found out she had received a heart from a 13 year old girl from Ohio who had died in a car accident.  Since it was very rare for a woman that young to receive a new heart, a few doctors gathered to witness her surgery.  When she got out of the surgery room, she felt peace in herself for the first time since they had diagnosed her with low blood pressure.  A few days after her surgery, a nurse named Vera made Amy stand up for the first time.  She made her brush her teeth.  Even the simple movement of her arm was painful and difficult.  Not much later, Amy took her first shower after a long time.  With the help of her step-mom Beverly, she was able to get in the shower and to bathe herself quickly before she felt weak.  In the shower, Amy realized the medicine she was taking had caused her to lose her belly button and had caused her to have a pot belly.  In the next few days, Amy was lucky to meet with a girl about her age that had also lived the experience of a heart transplant.  The only difference was that she had lived it 3 times.  When Amy was finally sent home from the hospital, she slowly took her life back in hand and started doing exercise.  She started by walking on flat ground, graduated to hills then started running.  Amy indicates that her inspiration was Scott.  He never gave up on her, even when she wanted to give up on herself.  Ms. Silverstein was also told to wear a mask when walking around in New York City to reject every germ possible because a simple cold could kill her at the time. 

Exactly one year after her surgery, Amy found herself in a Cinderella-gown walking down the aisle holding her father’s arm.  She did it!  She went against all her chances and survived to see this special day.  Yet, she wasn’t even close to being done her recovery.  She’ll never be done.  During the cocktail hour after her wedding, she had to leave her own party to meet with a nurse who would give her medication.  These drugs would sadly cause side effects like nausea, intense shaking, headaches and she would feel seasick.  Amy was given 10 years to live with her new heart.  As time went by, she knew her few years to live would be fading away.  Amy was the kind of woman who would hide her sickness from everyone and act as if she wasn’t sick at all while she was secretly dying.  This strong lady really wanted to have a baby, so she paid a visit to her doctor.  He recommended her to finish her studies as a law student, to pass the bar exam and to start working before he could consider it.  When she did, he still wouldn’t let her.  She was 28, and wasn’t allowed to have a baby and they predicted 8 years for her to live.  During the last chapter I read, Amy started hearing her heart beat loudly every day.  Since it was driving her crazy, she decided to see a therapist who finally, didn’t help at all.  She decided to help herself and to have a positive attitude.

RELATE:  I can barely relate to Amy Silverstein and to her condition.  The only way I can relate to her is that she started running when she came back home after her surgery.  I also run and I’ve been running for a good part of my life.  Almost everyone in my family runs so it was easy for me to take part with this activity.  It is very hard for me to relate to her in any other way because her life is extraordinary while mine is quite normal.  Amy is very courageous and I have never been able to show that much courage.  Actually, I am able to relate to her in a certain way since I also suffered through an operation even if it was quite minor compared to hers.  I got a hernia.  My intestine passed through a whole found in stomach muscle.  Somehow, that incident could help me relate to Amy Silverstein.

REFLECT:  This book still impresses me with every word I read.  I can’t imagine a woman with such a young body going through that much pain.  I am now at page 200 of this 289 page book and I wish it could be much longer!  I have never heard of such an inspiring biography.  I can’t wait to see how it will finish.  I do know she has a son but I wonder if it was a natural birth or an adoption because her doctor indicated that she shouldn’t have children.  This still is the best book I’ve read in my whole life!  By far, it is the most interesting one.  I officially put Amy as one of my heroes.  I can’t get over how difficult her life must’ve been.