Dear Friends,

Sai Ram. I am sharing with you the review of a book that I read recently. Since
the book is related to health, I am sharing the review with my friends in
several health and other groups in addition to the usual review sites. The case
of Nick is a good example where birth defects, once introduced by any factor
need surgical intervention. Alternative healing systems of course help with the
medical management of the cases before and after surgical intervention, as we
all know.

Regards.

Swamy

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Title: Nick's New Heart
Sub-Title: The True Story of Love, Strength, and Courage
Author: Susan May
Publisher: Tiger Iron Press
ISBN: 0-9787263-2-4
Genre: Biography, Medical, Coping
Presentation: Hard Bound with dust jacket

I love medical books, especially the ones written by laymen and those written
for laymen by doctors. So, when a chance came to review this book, I agreed
readily and I am happy that I agreed!

Susan writes well and the editors also did a wonderful job in keeping the flow
smooth. The story is gripping and the saying, "Truth is stranger than fiction"
is so true in this case. The problems with Nick (Nicholas) start early, almost
immediately after his birth and continue into the childhood, culminating in a
heart transplant surgery 17 years ago! The book is about the drama, the trauma
and the wonderful doctors and the support groups that helped the baby live and
that too with a fairly high quality of life!

There are a few typos but they won't distract you, the reader (I could not help
seeing them because I am a reviewer and editor myself). I was left wondering why
Susan did not write this book earlier when pediatric heart transplants were not
that common and when her book could have reached out and gave new hope and
courage to thousands of affected parents all over the world. Now, pediatric
heart surgeries including heart transplants are much more common and there is
lot more information in the form of books, articles etc. I was reading a
wonderful letter from Dr. Devi Shetty of Bangalore (Bengaluru now. a large city
of India), a leading pediatric cardiac surgeon who has performed 4000+ surgeries
on children and the
letter was addressed to the children. Ask me for the link to that letter if
interested. He does the surgery free!

All in all, reading this book was moving and inspiring. I recommend the book
strongly if you or some one you know have any interest in health matters,
especially relating to children, surgeries etc.

About the Reviewer: I am Swamy, a physicist, a metallugist etc. with interests
in holistic health, spirituality etc. and am an author, editor and reviewer. Pl.
see my blog at http://swamyreviews@blogspot.com for more details.