Take Heart: My Journey with Cardiomyopathy & Heart Failure

Description

When Adrienne was first diagnosed with cardiomyopathy she asked, "What is that?" She had never heard of the condition and had trouble finding information. Her book is designed to help others with cardiomyopathy and heart failure. As well as telling her story she describes how, over time, she learnt to manage - what worked and what didn't. During her journey, she met others with a similar condition and includes their stories. Her book is relevant to anyone with a chronic health condition.

Adrienne Frater has been widely published both in New Zealand and overseas. Many of her stories have been broadcast either in New Zealand or by the Commonwealth Broadcast Corporation. She has won awards for her fiction writing and her skill as a story teller is evident in the way in which she tells this deeply personal story.

"When Adrienne asked me to read her original text describing the journey she had with her heart condition, it was to check accuracy and comment on whether her recall of cardiology facts were correct. There was little need - she had kept track of her medical pathway with the accuracy of health professional. But, beyond that, I was riveted by Adrienne's story from the start. It's a perspective that health professionals rarely see, but I suspect is very common among the patients we treat." - Dr Gillian Whalley Torckler