Sick Girl
by Amy SilversteinSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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Read in July, 2008
Now that I've finished reading this book, I'm thinking this woman's story could have probably benefitted from a better editor. We'll never know, though, so I have to review it based on the book that exists.
As others have commented, the author is not particularly likeable. Here is one area I think an editor should have stepped in. The editor should have said "Amy, put in some stories from your early dates, where you and Scott fall in love. Put in some stories about you doing normal thin...more
As others have commented, the author is not particularly likeable. Here is one area I think an editor should have stepped in. The editor should have said "Amy, put in some stories from your early dates, where you and Scott fall in love. Put in some stories about you doing normal thin...more
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Read in July, 2008
This book is a real page-turner and a fast read. I am not sure why it should be so compelling as the entire book is one long whine about having to have a heart transplant at 24 and the unremittingly dreadful ill-health for the next almost two decades.
Nevertheless, it provides much information on what it is really like to have a transplant. No, the transplantee is not as good-as-new after one and they never will be again. Silverstein makes a good point in saying that the older folks who ha...more
Nevertheless, it provides much information on what it is really like to have a transplant. No, the transplantee is not as good-as-new after one and they never will be again. Silverstein makes a good point in saying that the older folks who ha...more
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Read in August, 2008
I waited a while to read this book. It was too close, too personal and I had heard negative reviews. But I finally dove in and am very glad I did. Amy Silverstein is a heart transplant recipient. She has lived longer than most and far longer than expected with her donor heart. I, myself, am a transplant recipient having received a kidney and pancreas transplant almost four years ago.
Amy is honest and unflinching in her portrayal of the last 17 years since her transplant. She is raw, ...more
Amy is honest and unflinching in her portrayal of the last 17 years since her transplant. She is raw, ...more
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I actually picked this book because I saw a review of it in People magazine and it looked interesting, plus I had easy access because they happened to have it at the library I work at =) It's about a 24 year old girl whose heart fails as she's a promising law student and she has a transplant. She's given a ten year lifespan and ends up living 17 years post-transplant and is still living today. I admire her for her courage and strength because that is something terrible to go through that I know ...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who likes medical stuff, a bit of technical stuff, and sad but hopeful stories
This is a true story written by one of the longest surviving people after a heart transplant. Amy Silverstein really breaks down the particulars of what it is like to survive after a heart transplant. I think people assume that after a long illness and then the receipt of a new heart, people are instantly "Cured." However, Amy makes you understand that there is no 'being a survivor', you are in a constant state of trying to survive, trying to fend off sickness, trying to keep your body...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to furies by:
Meredithrecommends it for: any one working in the health profession, anyone who is/knows someone chronically "sick"
very smart, very real book.
apparently people have criticized the author for being "ungrateful" for her heart transplant - i would argue that they did not read the same book i did, because she grapples with the fact that she herself thinks she is ungrateful, and what that means.
this addresses all the real questions of life and death and hope and despair, and what to do when you've hit the end of your rope and you've already added all you can to it. it's a little bleak, it's no...more
apparently people have criticized the author for being "ungrateful" for her heart transplant - i would argue that they did not read the same book i did, because she grapples with the fact that she herself thinks she is ungrateful, and what that means.
this addresses all the real questions of life and death and hope and despair, and what to do when you've hit the end of your rope and you've already added all you can to it. it's a little bleak, it's no...more
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Read in April, 2008
HATED this book! It really should be called "My Pity Party." I picked it up at the library thinking it looked interesting: a 24-year old college student girl all the sudden gets really sick and finds herself needing a heart transplant. Her main concern - she doesn't want to be on Prednisone because it will make her look "puffy" (that's a side effect of the meds). Well hello, girl! There's more to life than what you look like! She is continually rude to her doctors and n...more
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I was under the impression (from reading the back cover) that this is a woman who has become embittered over time. That 17 years of living with severe health problems has made her a "difficult patient." Not so. On her very first hospital stay she fights with the nurse who is trying to give her an IV and says "(expletive) you" to her. She started out a nasty woman, and I don't care to read any more about how she abuses her husband, father and step-mother, and punishes them...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Cristine by:
Good Housekeeping magazinerecommends it for: Erin
As a person who works with heart transplant patients at a hospital, this was an interesting and thought provoking book on the patient's perspective. While myself and a lot of health care workers feel that we are doing things to "help" the patient, one needs to question the quality of life a patient feels he/she is having. I think at the beginning of the book I was irritated with the author, but as the book progressed I developed an empathy for her and understanding.
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Read in March, 2008
Illuminating look at the details and aftermath of a heart transplant. The problems just don't go away after a transplanat. Forced to take scores of medications daily, undergo painful heart biopsies yearly, Amy Silverstein details the pain of living with a transplanted heart. I found her screechy and complaining and not very likable, but she is able to convey the pain & weariness of her life. We think it's all roses after you get the new heart, but not so.
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
memoir readers
A fascinating account of what its like to live with a heart transplant. I never really thought much about what life is like after a person receives an organ transplant but after reading this memoir I realize that is a very difficult life yet people think the organ recipient is cured. Although some critics have pegged the author as ungrateful she was just being honest about how difficult it is. For anyone who likes memoirs this one was worth reading.
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Read in July, 2007
Oh wow. This was incredible - an autobiography of what it was like to have had heart "trouble" leading to a transplant at 25, and beating the 10-year survival odds. The cover bills it as sort of like Girl, Interrupted but it's so much better.
One caveat: do not read this unless your heart rate is normal. If you've been exercising, or get startled while reading, it's very difficult to not get very, very nervous!
One caveat: do not read this unless your heart rate is normal. If you've been exercising, or get startled while reading, it's very difficult to not get very, very nervous!
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Great book -- a very different take on living with a catastrophic illness. Amy is incredibly honest. If you want to read a superficial account of facing down your own death, this is not that book. As a person with a serious illness myself, however, I assure you that it contains amazing insights that most of us don't have the nerve to say out loud. I appreciated this author's willingness to tell it like it is. Very valuable book.
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What I had to keep in mind throughout the whole book was that apparently this woman has never complained about her illness. Without that in mind, I wanted her to suck it up and deal with it which is completely against the entire point of the book. Oops. For those who begin and feel like that, just stick it out. There is a great turn in perspective near the end that makes it all worthwhile.
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Read in January, 2008
This is the first book I've encountered that truly made me weep. The heart that beats within my chest is my own, but the emotions and thoughts that Silverstein is brave enough to voice are some of the same ones I harbor within my own mind. I feel that this is a book I will return to again, for it made me realize how much I have not dealt with concerning my own heart.
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Read in October, 2007
i read this book for work and was pleasantly surprised. it's a pretty riveting autobiographical account of a former nyu-law student who found out she had a congenital heart defect that required transplant surgery. very open and honest. the prose is a little melodramatic, but the story is fascinating.
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A book about a woman who needs a heart transplant at a young age and her struggle to come to terms with her chronic condition. I don't know what I was expecting from it, maybe something to relate to. I could relate to much of what she said even though it was not me who had to have a transplant.
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Read in March, 2008
This book is a true story about a young woman who had a heart transplant and has lived with it much longer then expected. It is very informative and interesting and sometimes emotional. Probably more because of my personal experience with a friend. The main character is a little annoying.
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Intense and unapologetic, Silverman's memoir about her life as the longest living heart transplant patient is fascinating. Her honesty is refreshing. Don't expect a woman who is happy just to be alive. Silverman expects more out of life, and well she should.
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