This phenomenal book is the memoir of Claire Sylvia...the woman who got a heart-lung transplant. It tells her remarkable story both before and after the transplant. Plagued with a heart issue from childhood, Claire is tired and sick for most of her life. As a professional dancer, this is incredibly difficult. When Claire can no longer keep pushing on and is at death's door, she gets approved for a transplant. The identity of her donor is confidential yet Claire has dreams about the donor. She has so much information about the donor that she ends up tracking down the donor's family and amazing them with the information she has (which was not disclosed to her since hospitals have a strict donor confidentiality policy). Claire also has physical and mental changes from the transplant--craving beer and chicken nuggets when she normally did not like those foods. Claire even starts a support group for others in the transplant process. There she learns that she is not alone in the changes she is experiencing. This book really makes readers think of what the heart really is. Is it just a pump or is it something more? Is the brain the only part of the body that carries memories or is the concept of other parts of the body holding memories (i.e.- "cellular memory") the true reality? Where does the spirit go when one dies, and how is it related to the physical body? Questions like these and more are addressed both from Claire's own personal experience, the experience of those in her transplant support group, and scientific discoveries referenced at the end of the book.
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