An Arrow Through the Heart: One Woman's Story of Life, Love, and Surviving a Near-Fatal Heart Attack

I just finished reading this wonderful book! I was motivated to read this because a dear girl friend is 45( also diabetic) and suffered a major heart attack. I wanted to know more about what happens medically and emotionally. Very frightening. I want to know how the author is doing now?

This was a very inspirational book for those of us who have lived through a debilitating illness and a different perspective on life for those who have not. It made me look at my world differently and appreciate where I am currently. The book was well-written and engaging. I have recommended it to many people.

I read this book when it first was published and again recently. It really is one of the most absorbing and beautifully written books in my collection. I have sent copies to my friends and relatives and have been getting rave reviews. My cousin in England wrote: "I started Deborah's book at 8PM could barely put it down at 11, went to sleep and finished it the next morning!"

... I'm a critical care nurse, and what I find of compelling interest is not the just the nuts and bolts of survival and medical daring-do, but rather, the meaning of illness and healing. I believe that it is of the utmost importance that we understand and listen to the stories of individuals who have travelled to the edge, approached the threshold of life and death and returned to share with us. Living is more than physical survival, and Deborah does a lovely job of finding meaning in not just her physical state, but the emotional and spiritual aspects of living, healing, confronting death. It's so easy, in my work environment, to get swept up by the physicality of it all: the techno;ogy, the life and death drama, the adrenaline rush, the the technical minutae of modern medicine. Not to say it isn't wonderful...it is , and challenging and (dare I say it?) fun as well. What can easily get lost, however, is the recognition that the person in that bed is a whole and independent person, with a life story and a life purpose of far greater magnitude than a stay, however long, in a critical care unit. The illness or accident pull the individual out of context, and can let us diminish them, all unawares. It helps, of course, that Deborah is an elegant writer; her ability to weave bits and pieces of past and present together into a seamless narrative of her first year post-event feels whole and real. She's found a nice balance that allows the book to transcend the purely personal memmoir. I think this is an important book on a number of levels: for Deborah, as a healing piece; for other women, as a wakeup call about a very real and undertreated health risk; for healthcare providers, as a means of engendering humility and empathy; for anyone interested in mind-body-spirit wholeness and the process of healing.

In this book, the author literally bares her heart and shares all about her first year of recovery from a near fatal heart attack. I found the book incredibly well written, not preachy, Pollyannish or moralistic. I have read alot of personal illness-tragedies and thought I knew them all but Deborah's is a bit different I think because it is so honest! She doesn't place blame anywhere, doesn't doctor-bash but continually searches for meaning. She wrote the book to let other women know the potential of heart disease - something facing all of us babyboomers. I found the book quite "gripping" even though one knows the ending. It would be a great book to read on a long planetrip however there are much deeper meanings to find if one wants to.