Customer Reviews

A Change of Heart: A Memoir

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I've known Claire Silva for many years. I knew her well before her body started to fail. This book is her reality. It unfolded just as she states. If her story seems amazing, consider how it must have felt to her, miraculous, beyond belief. She is ever so rapidly dying, then a chance to receive a heart and lung, (the first in New England, "experimental surgery") suddenly, out-of-the-blue. Friends rush her to Yale, New Haven, CT. she receieves a new life. New heart, new lung, more than that. New cells, old memories. The dreams begin. She has incorporated new celllular tissue, new DNA residue and the doctors have warned her that the tissue could be rejected. Incredibly,the memories of a dead young man begin to flood her dreams, her senses. I met Claire after the surgery. We spent quite a bit of time together. A change of person and heart had taken place. Read this book and trust that there are some things that science and medicine may never unravel. Draw from your own knowledge, intuition and experience. Your reality is within you. Claire chose to share this experience. Her experience is something that will cause you to think about how you live your own life. It will cause you to realize how special and extra-ordinary you are as a result of your own unique genetic, societal, physical and psychological composition. It may cause you to dream and wonder and question the courage you fail to exhibit to the world for fear of being ridiculed. Finally, this is a book about a woman with the courage and the desire to live and the willpower and curiosity to explore and investigate her changed life and her changed reality. 143

I have recently re-read "A Change of Heart". I congratulate Claire on her fortitude to WRITE the book in the first place. I worked for 20 years as a Surgical Nurse, and heard MANY stories like hers. In most cases, they were instantly dismissed by the current Medical Paradigm. Like her Cardiac Surgeon, their biggest fear is dealing with something that is beyond their present range of knowledge. I am thankful that the current state of medicine is being forced to change. We, who have worked in 'the system' know that although some of it works, the majority DOES NOT ! It happens that most of us who have been in medicine, know that it does not have all the answers. In looking truthfully at stories like these and the near-death research,we know that Western medical practice is being forced to change. I see so many things that are of great service, however, too many people cannot participate because of rising medical costs, and lack of Insurance to cover such help. As a 'Drop Out' from that system,I applaud the research into new vistas. I hope allof the readers of this book do so with an open mind, and HEART.

I just finished reading "A Change of Heart" - Claire Sylvia & William Novak's original book. It's currently no longer in print, so I wound up ordering it from a used bookstore. It appears that the reprint is now available - with a slight title change (it now incl. "A Memoir").

At any rate, I found this book to be truely amazing! The basic premise is that Claire went through a heart & lung transplant, and afterward, she noticed some major changes in her personality (i.e. likes and dislikes) - was it due to the fact that she now had another person's heart and lungs within her? That is a question that you are left to answer for yourself.

I like the fact that this book explains what was occuring through Claire's point of view, and then goes on to discuss many other "experts" ideas as to why these things were happening. No one idea is pushed on the reader - the information is layed out for you to make your own decision.

I believe that this book is a "must read" for anyone who has gone through a transplant, knows someone who has, or is just plain interested in happenings that cannot currently be explained by western science. An open mind is a must!


P.S. This book also reminds us of just how important it is to check that little box on your license & become an organ donor. It may give someone the gift of life one day!

This is the true story of Claire Sylvia's heart/lung transplant performed as Yale-New Haven's first such operation back in 1988. Beyond being an excellent narrative of an inspiring transplant experience, her story develops into a deeper scientific mystery as she encounters her young donor through dreams and changes in her life. Later, Claire is able to verify that such traits and dreams have a basis in real life when she meets her donor, Tim, through his family. Claire does not claim to fully understand her experience, but shares with us the facts as they became known to her. Along with a series of less spectacular, but similar stories from other transplant recipients, the book offers a short summary of scientific and other disciplines' current findings in this area. While each reader will draw their own conclusion as to the validity of Claire's story, all will leave this book with an expanded awareness of the mystery of life as we currently understand it.

After reading "The Heart's Code" by Paul Pearsall and now this book I am convinced we are just beginning to scratch the surface of the science of transplant information and details about the heart and how it controls personality.

It is a proven fact that heart patients who are ill have a sudden change in temperment and also proven that transplant patients take on some characteristics of the donor.

There was a case of a nun who received the heart of a prostitute (absolutely true story) and many more in Paul's book and this book seems to focus on one true story of one woman.

You have to be careful though, if you've had open heart surgery or are waiting on a transplant it can get a bit emotionally heavy as you related to her having to face death. Watch the dark tones and you'll be fine as you read the info. The object is to come away having learned some secrets of what to expect and those are very very interesting.

There was also a case of a transplant recipient who began using vocabulary words from the donor and then later when the patient met the donor's family and used those rare words randomly they were floored. Good read.

At the very least, the book is an absorbing first person look at the way a major health crisis affects a person's life. In that regard, it's too bad that Norman Cousins is not around to add his own observations. But the book certainly raises some interesting questions for me. It would be easy to dismiss Claire Sylvia's post-transplant feelings as the quirks of an artistic person with new-age sensitivities, who had been raised in a family in which dreams and images were vitally important. However, the authors have been careful to demonstrate that Ms. Sylvia's eerie premonitions about her heart and lung donor are not uncommon. This book adds to the growing weight of evidence that Western medicine does not possess all the answers, and in fact may not know all the questions. I can't think of a recent book that has more profoundly affected my feelings about death and life.

Change of Heart was a page turner for several reasons. 1. Claire Sylvia's story was compelling in and of itself. 2. The world of organ transplants was new to me and very impressive - a learning experience. 3. The phenomenon of organ memory brought up many thought-provoking psychospiritual issues regarding consciousness and death.

This book was amazing, it changed how I looked at transplants. What the patients go thru, and there are times that the Doctors want to only think CLINICALLY, but there are times and instances that you have to look beyond, and believe what you don't see and trust in that.

I heard an interview on the radio with the author and was interested in reading the book. The description stated that the book was used and in good condition, so I ordered it. This is the first time I have ordered a used book, but I am very happy with it. It took about 10 days to arrive, and cost me only $4. I can't really comment on the book itself as I have just started it, but the subject matter interests me greatly - Claire Sylvia was the first person in New England to have a heart/lungs transplant, and the book tells of the connection of the recipient to the donor & how she developed traits of her 18 year old donor. The interview was intriguing, and I sat in my car for 15 minutes after arriving home, so that I could hear the entire story, and I expect the book to be equally so.

This woman has a great attitude and good story line. She spends a bit too much time talking about the donor and the dreams that she has about it. It's much more "story" than just facts about her transplant. I am glad I read it though. You'll just need to balance it by reading another book on the same subject.