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Second Ticket to the Dance: Nightwires from the Edge of Life

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This book by Dr. Kalmanoff seems, to me, to be two books combined into one. The first, and probably the more common of the two, traces the author's life, discussing his childhood, sickness, recovery, and redefined outlook on life. The second, however, is a a far more novel idea. The second recurring idea is the intersection of the author, a transplantee, and the family of the organ donor who saved the author's life. The book shows, through a series of e mails, how the relationship between the two families both provided an unexpected source of support, as well as a way for the author to thank the deceased son for his unbelievable gift. This supportive relationship is fascinating to see as an outsiders , especially through the actual e mails between the author, the donor mother, and the donor father.

Concluding, the best thing about this book is Dr. Kalmanoff. The stories themselves are wonderful, but only through the never ending positivism and appreciation of the author can they be presented as effectively as they are in "second ticket to the dance."

How fortunate we are for Kal persevering to write down his experience for others to share in. His thoughts and emotions through this very special time of his life are spellbinding and thought provoking.

SECOND TICKET TO THE DANCE keeps your mind focused on the real meaning of life itself and helped me take an inventory of how much there is on earth to be grateful for. I read every page with renewed excitement as to how it would all turn out.

Reading about Lucas Cromwell, the heart donor, gave me an insight into the person and his family that had to be willing to suffer unimaginable pain so that Kal might live. As a result, I have become an organ donor, talked to my family about my wishes, suggested to them that they also become donors and educated myself about what this really means. Especially interesting was the fact that even if your organs cannot be donated, your skin tissue can be and medical researchers are performing many miracles with skin grafts.

There was some repetition in the book, but that just made me know how important this was to the author....and I paid more attention to the meaning of the words This is MUST reading for everyone who doubts the power of hope and wants to feel the magic of miracles in life.

Sally Graham Bayer

The author is a man that had a failing heart and only a transplant could save his life, which could have ended at any time. At a point where his future looked the bleakest, a heart became available in San Francisco while he was in Italy. After a rapid and eventful journey, the transplant was successful, but as Kalmanoff learned, the surgery is the easiest part of the process. This book is in part a series of e-mail messages sent and received by Kalmanoff as he faces a rapid demise, to be saved at almost the last minute by a fatal gift of generosity. The remainder is largely information about the young man that died to provide Kalmanoff a chance at a second life.
The messages take you inside the life of a terminally ill man, his thoughts, struggles and emotions as he rapidly goes from near death to near health. There are descriptions of the enormous amount of medication and monitoring that follows the surgery as well as the thoughts and emotions of the people that love the man that died so tragically. Making organs available for transplantation is one of the few ways that life can arise directly from death and is also one of the ways that some sense can be made out of a tragedy.
As you read this book, it is clear that organ donation is one of the most selfless and valuable gifts that one can make. It is a way to make a valuable contribution to society and this book is a strong argument for signing up to be an organ donor.

There are many reasons to read SECOND TICKET TO THE DANCE: NIGHTWIRES FROM THE EDGE OF LIFE (not the least of which is the catchy title!): this is a true story of one man's living life on borrowed time who is abruptly given a second chance to continue living; some insights on the use of today's most common means of communication via email; first person narrative about transplantation; finding more core meaning to life when comparing our own to that of a man apparently doomed; discovering a relationship between an organ recipient and the family of the deceased donor. This fine book by Alan Kalmanoff has all that and much more.

Kalmanoff ran away from a dysfunctional home and managed to not only survive with the aid of a French pen pal, but to continue on to college and law school and creating a non profit criminal justice organization, marry a Burmese doctor while at the same time facing the fact that he had contracted a disease (viral myocarditis) which diminished his health to the point of dangerous cardiac arrhythmias and a heart that was near its end. Never one to give up hope or forget the beauty of his happy marriage and family and their project to salvage an 800 year old Tuscan house on a hill, Kalmanoff was put on the heart transplant lists. This warmly written book relates all of this via emails to his friends and family (he calls them nightwires) and it is this easily readable collection of emails and commentary that take the reader trough the entire process - fear of dying, notification of an available heart, undergoing transplant, enduring the multiple medications for immunosuppression that accompany any transplant, his support from his family and his ultimate relationship with the family of the 24 year old donor Lucas Cromwell.

What Alan Kalmanoff has accomplished, then, is a book that teaches the public about the entire organ donor/recipient transplant concept, while at the same time sharing an experience of joie de vivre that serves to awaken any reader to the sacred beauty of life. This is a celebratory book, full of love and wise insights, and should be among the best sellers of non-fiction books soon! Grady Harp, May 10

Second Ticket To The Dance is one of the most inspiring, honest and moving books I have read this year! Whether you are facing health challenges or are taking care of a loved one with serious health issues, you will find this book an uplifting companion through your own healing journey. Alan Kalmanoff is undoubtedly a talented and brilliant writer! His candid account of his heart transplant and getting a second chance to life is delivered in this beautiful book through many of his "nightwires" to his friends and family. Through honest documentary, Second Ticket To The Dance touches its readers deeply with its messages of joy, gratitude and inspiration. Most of all, the messages in this book convey a profound sense of hope that deeply connects us all. I highly recommend this book! Second Ticket to the Dance: Nightwires from the Edge of Life

i think that this book would be meaningful and helpful to anyone undergoing serious medical procedures for life-threatening conditions, not just heart transplants but, for example, cancer treatment as well. i especially liked the multiple points of view: the author shares his private mental and emotional space through the "nightwires" or emails that sustain him when he is alone and sick. his writing has a poetic touch and a recognition of the crucial importance of having a strong family and friends network during the process. it gives a thorough and touching portrait of the young heart donor through the writings and memoirs of his parents, it describes some of their immense pain and also the donor family's significant feelings of consolation in giving his heart to another, and it illuminates the effects of everything on family and friends. as it read it, i kept thinking of the advice that medical school professors give to their students: "behind every illness there is a patient," and behind every donor there is a family, with a mother who feels the beating heart of her son when she hugs the one who has received it.

I have not read books for a long while. Before picking this book up, I thought it is going to be a play-by-play account of the surgery, recovery et. from a first person point of view. It did provide a detailed account of what happen :before", "during", and "after" the surgery. But the book included a collection of emails among the author and his friends and family throughout the chapters, making it interesting and easy to read. I think this is a clever idea to put the book together rather than writing it in first person. I enjoyed it and highly recommend it.Second Ticket to the Dance: Nightwires from the Edge of Life

A harrowing cross-country journey leads the author to a new heart and another opportunity to live his life (his second ticket to the dance). It is a masterful work in its unvarnished chronicling of his experiences and the lessons he has learned. A nationally renowned expert in criminal justice issues, the author had accomplished a tremendous amount personally and professionally before this moment. However, he shares that this focus on living the best life possible only came when he was forced to battle heart failure for 20 years.

The author provides a lucid narrative on the sheer importance of cherishing every moment. Our lives, unfortunately, are much too often devoid of real meaning and overpowered by the mundane. I hope many read this work, as it will provide a powerful glimpse into the importance of being self aware of the critical milestones we should all take a moment to deeply cherish. Furthermore, it is a wonderful tribute to the donor and his family. Their generosity helped save a man's life and provided his family with the husband and father they desperately needed to keep. At the same time, the donor's family suffered deeply at losing a son and brother who was at the cusp of fully forming his own identity and was well on his way to manhood. The interactions between the two families, in the later half of the piece, are especially powerful and moving.

I will forever cherish this book for the lessons it has taught me. As I read it, in one sitting, I was compelled to ponder my own journey. Furthermore, it convinced me that the precious moments we live on this earth are truly worthy of profound reflection, active commitment to fulfill our personal goals, and devotion to living in community.

There are some really great passages in this book, recalling the writers journey through heart failure and transplant and recovery. Mixed in with the narrative in the first half of the book are emails the author sent out during his trials and response back from his friends and family. Some emails and responses, better than others, occasionally break up the narrative aspect of the author's writings for the first quarter of the book. Afterwards, the book turns to a more reflective nature, chronically the author's life out of the hospital and meeting the family of the donor heart, who you meet and hear from personally at the end of the book is a welcome ending for this true story.

My only misgivings are slight repetitions in the book stemming from the writer's present day narrative and introduction to the proceeding chapter and some of the subsequent emails or nightwires the author wrote while on the road to recovery.

Although I have not gone through any major or minor medical procedures, I think this book should have a positive effect on people in similar circumstances by always reminding the patient to stay patient, know they are cared for, and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. And this would apply to family and loved ones of people currently undergoing treatment too, giving a sense of hope toward the future.

Let me disclosed that I am one of the writer's close friends, one who has been intimately connect to "Kal" long before his heart transplant, during the surgery, and throughout his recovery. It has been a roller coaster ride and a half. This book documents his journey in passionate, brilliantly nuanced prose. He calls himself a "lucky man". The world is just as lucky to have this record of a heart transplant in all its carefully observed far out ramifications. It could not have happened to a better guy--a man who is an obsessive communicator--tapping out emails, the nightwires of the title,Second Ticket to the Dance: Nightwires from the Edge of Life from Intensive Care Unit a couple days after the transplant! Socrates said "An unexamined life is not worth living". This is the amazing record of an examined life--email by email.