Real Life Drama

I read two fantastic biographies this weekend. The first is actually my book club's April selection. I know, I'm reading out of order and I'll probably have to read it again but I just couldn't help but read it when it came in! It's called Sick Girl and it's by Amy Silverstein. Silverstein had a heart transplant at the age of 25. Now, 19 years later, she is the longest living heart recipient in the state of New York. I haven't seen any other statistics but I know the average heart transplant recipient lives 10 years after the surgery. So, most people talk to Silverstein about how lucky she is and what a miracle her life is. While in some ways she agrees, she also shares how difficult life after a transplant is. She is on a huge number of medications that leave her feeling sick and that kill off her immune system. This is so that her body won't start rejecting her heart (which, even after 19 years, it considers a foreign body) but it also leaves her vulnerable to many illnesses. She says she feels constantly sick and tired. Her book is a bit whiny and that got old after a while but I learned a lot about heart transplant that I had never considered. It was really good.



The other biography I read this weekend was In An Instant by Lee and Bob Woodruff. You probably remember that Bob was named the new co-anchor of ABC World News Tonight after Peter Jennings died. Less than 1 month after that announcement he was severely injured in an IED explosion while reporting in Iraq. It is a miracle that he survived. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, the injury that has become the signature injury of the Iraq War. The book says that at least 10% of the 1.5 million men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have a traumatic brain injury of some kind. Bob's was very severe but he has made an incredible recovery, much greater than the doctor's anticipated. The book was really good. I enjoyed the parts about Bob and how his career developed to the point of earning the anchor desk but I thought the parts about traumatic brain injury and the Iraq war were even more interesting. The consequences of the huge number of service men and women affected by this kind of injury are just now being realized and will be dealt with by our country for many years. Most of us don't know anything about it and that, to me, is a good enough reason to recommend this book!