Blogs by Brian A. Hartford
Book Review: Change Of Heart
8/12/2009 7:25:22 AM
Author/Editor Dee Jordan reviews Authors Book.
Change of Heart a book review that I did:Share
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Change of Heart: The Brian Hartford Story
Brian Hartford and Peggy McCardle
AmErica House, 1992
http://www.facebook.com/1/;publishamerica.com .
http://www.facebook.com/1/;site:http://www.authorsden.com
http://facebook.com/1/;Amazon.com .
$19.95, paperback, $30.00 hardback
Reviewed by Dee Jordan
http://www.sneakaboardpress.com
This odd couple, Brian Hartford and Peggy McCardle, write both a compelling story and inspiring one about Brian's life before, during and after a heart transplant.
Brian, like most men, experienced the symptoms of a heart attack and ignored them. This did massive damage to his heart, and they rushed him to the hospital when his next, not so silent, heart attack hit him. Brian makes a great protagonist as the reader feels his fear, his pain, his worry and his sorrow after losing his wife, Jeanne, while confined to the hospital. This leaves the children without their mom or step dad. Fran, Jeanne's mom takes over their care as well as the selling of their house and storing furniture that wasn't sold. The children, overwhelmed by the circumstances: losing their mother, their home and it looked like their step dad, distanced themselves.
"Both Laura Beth and Michael determined that I wasn't going to recover, and on top of Jeanne's death, could not deal with my situation or me at all. I did not hear from them."
Brian's story is one of the most intimate stories I have read. He keeps a journal that leaves nothing to one's imagination or his privacy.
The reader goes through the weeks that he agonizes living while waiting on his heart transplant. Somehow, Brian keeps a positive attitude most of the time and this surely saved his life. Anxiety and stress played a role in Brian's day-to-day ability to await his heart transplant. For the first time in his life, there was a fear of dying. He fought in Vietnam and found the fear of the pain and strain of every day small things possibly being his last, far more disturbing than being shot at in Nam.
Brian's journey takes the reader from a very independent man to one very dependent on everyone and all modern medicine could provide. His debilitating health reunites him with his estranged daughter Laura Ann. Brian initiates a lasting friendship with the stepmother of Jeanne's children, Peggy. Here the book takes unique twists and turns as Brian vows to live and survive this ordeal.
Brian literally changed as a man when he received his new heart. His change of heart will inspire the most cynical of us. There is a long recovery, which illustrates the tenacity of Brian Hartford.
I highly recommend this book for a fascinating read.
Dee Jordan is the author of the novel In and Out of Madness, written under her nom de plume N. L. Snowden.
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August 2009 Blogs
• Book Review: Change Of Heart - Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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