Book Talk: A Heart Forever Changed by Etta LaVinya

Grace Ungiven: And the Innocents Left to Yearn by Jeff R. Kelland_The BookWalker

This story foretold a woman, a wife, who is grappling with issues that inflict verbal, mental, and emotional abuse amid her bumpy road to marriage; she contracts a debilitating illness and wrestles at death's door. In this memoir, Etta LaVinya voices out that "scars are like tattoos, but they have better stories. Not only visible scars but also the ones we carry inside us."

A Heart Forever Changed is a story of Etta's struggle with her unloving and verbally abusive husband that tangles her to the brink of emotional distress leading to a mid-life crisis.

Marital bliss is every woman's dream. Etta has a presentiment that her spouse has some signs of having an indifferent attitude. She thought it is part of the adjustment period as with other married couples. The author takes the readers to an emotional roller coaster as events come after another that unfolds this heart-rending narrative account; in turn, readers realize the searing pain she must have undergone given those prevailing circumstances living with him.

Much has been going on in her life. One day in 2007, Etta started having flu-like symptoms. She harbors discomfort intermittently, feeling an inexplicable coldness. Doctors performed all kinds of tests and had a hard time figuring out what it was until the third day. She came down with bacterial endocarditis. Etta had to undergo an emergency open-heart surgery to have her mitral valve replaced. After just two and a half months since she got out of the hospital, she is in congestive heart failure; there is a need for another open-heart surgery due to the blood clot on the mechanical valve.

Readers can only feel the ordeal she went through battling a seemingly unending grave illness. Undoubtedly, the saying goes, "The die is cast," her life in both operations was at stake.

The author gives insight into how a patient feels pre and post-surgery; how the nursing staff does their aftercare, pain management, physical therapy as part of the recuperating period, and all—encompass how her life takes a turn for the better.

Interestingly, the author ably explains the medical terms easier to understand. There are also light moments that could make us pause and be grateful for Etta as she shares this narrative intimately straight from her heart without some reservations.

Interestingly, the author ably explains the medical terminologies and making them easier to understand. There are also light moments that make readers pause and be grateful for Etta as she shares this narrative intimately straight from her heart without some reservations.

This memoir depicts the author's revelation down memory lane that despite those grueling and life-threatening experiences, A Heart Forever Changed is an engaging survival story that shows the perspective of human frailty yet could emerge strong and a second chance at life.

A Heart Forever Changed: My Story of Domestic Abuse, Serious Illness and Open Heart Surgery by Etta LaVinya


Publication date: ‎ April 28, 2014

Note: Now Available: Click here

This is the first book that Etta LaVinya has written. During her time in the hospital, one of the physician's assistants told Etta that she should write a book about her experience. After some thought, Etta decided to give it a try, and this is the finished product. Etta is an avid reader, enjoys crafting and loves animals. She and her husband live in Florida with their 2 pets.

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