This is a true and inspirational story of a physician who turned into a patient after she was injured in a car accident.
After a lady hit the gas instead of the brakes, Dr. Margaret Aranda suffered extensive internal damage in a car accident. No one knew what was wrong with this Stanford-trained doctor, and some people even thought she was pretending! The doctors were stumped and mystified.
She lived 6 years in bed, with 3 1/2 years spent on an iv PICC line. Read this amazing story and know that you, too can overcome the odds...even if no one thinks you will.
Excerpt
Chapter One
I know what I am talking about because I felt Heaven. Hum Drum. Cross your fingers or tie a bow around one finger and remember that throughout this book, I live drip to drip (intravenous fluid) and battery to battery (9 Volt, to be specific). The Hum Drum is my pump, pumping in fluid 24/7, so that my heart does not empty of blood, and I can stand up without fainting (syncope). Drip, drop. First the car accident occurred, and then I was bedridden. On my first ER visit, I went to a place.
It is a place with ‘no more tears’. I know, because I’ve been there.
Even though I’ve never heard a lecture on this subject. Not from any church I have ever attended since I accepted Christ as my personal Savior in second grade Catholic school. Not from elementary or high schoolteachers, not from the philosophy Professor in college, and not even from the Holy Spirit class in medical school. Not from Professors of internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, oncology, cardiology, surgery, anesthesiology, nor critical care. Not from the priests or the religious clergy standing with me, as patient after patient died in the intensive care unit (ICU) over a span of probably hundreds of deaths and four years learning or leading others in how to help a dying person leave this world with dignity and grace. To be there as each person took his/her last breaths, ‘gave up their spirit’, and died. And frankly, I cannot even recall the specific Bible scripture that references Heaven as being a place of “no more tears”. Remember: hum drum. Drip, drip. It keeps me alive.
But I was there, outside the door to Heaven, and I was filled with profound relief and ecstatic joy at never crying again. I felt it so purely and so overwhelmingly that I hope to impart on you one iota of what it feels like to have ‘no more tears’. And to impress upon you an indelible story that will change your individual human world forever. To let you know that you too can really, truly be at Heaven’s door and be possessed with the monumental knowledge that you would have ‘no more tears’ for all of eternity. To feel ‘no more tears’ and revel and bask in the enormity of an eternity of it.
Unimaginable.
Professional Reviews
Book Review by Emily White
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for me and all my American followers. It is honestly one of my favorite holidays because, despite the media's and stores' valiant attempts to make us focus on Black Friday instead of celebrating a day of thanks, it's still pretty free of commercial corruption. It's a day we spend with family and friends and focus on blessings instead of all the bad stuff we have to deal with every other day of the year.
I am very blessed and very thankful for many things. And I am OF COURSE thankful for great books and new authors!!
So let me introduce Dr. Margaret Aranda and her book, No More Tears to you:
Dr. Margaret Aranda, M.D., has written scientific articles on neurosurgery, anesthesiology, critical care, and radiology. She has received several awards for medical education in Oklahoma, California, and South Korea. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
There was a day that her life got stumped. First she was a Stanford doctor, then she became a trauma patient due to a car accident. Now, she could not stand up or else she would faint. The doctor-turned-patient had an invisible disease and the doctors were stumped too. What did she have? Why must she live on IV fluid? In No More Tears Dr. Margaret Aranda takes you on a ride to the door of Heaven as she describes her near-death experience after a car accident. She was unable to walk and unable to talk, and for over three years, she lived on IV fluid. No More Tears will inspire you to persevere, to speak up, to be that rare bird that underdog who wins despite the odds.
I have to first say that this type of book is not one I usually pick up. That's not to say I don't like deep, thought-provoking books. I really do. But had I happened upon this one in a store, I probably wouldn't have purchased it.
This is why I am VERY glad the author asked me to read and review it! I love finding little gems like these because it just goes to show me that my predetermined list of things I'll like is way too narrow.
The writing is so beautiful and descriptive and the story will work at your heart and play with your emotions. I am so glad I read this. I am so glad I got to experience this woman's story.
Here's a taste:
"Persevere. Fight. Don't take no for an answer. Realize that you can hide nothing from God and that he sees your actions and he knows your heart. Hum drum, drip, drop. Believe that God is guiding your steps. If I can do it, you can do it. Your attitude? If no one else can do it, you can do it. Hum drum, drip, drop. You have to know that your choices make you who you are.
"I got out of my bed when no one thought I could walk. I started walking without my walker when nobody thought I'd be able to accomplish this, and I walk with a cane instead. I still need the can but in a different, safer way. Hum drum, drip, drop. I'm glad to be alive in any alive form. Just let me be a mother."
If you'd like to find out more and pre-order a copy, visit Dr. Aranda's blog! Or like her facebook page!
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