From the Sidelines to the Finish Line: A Chronic Illness Survivor’s Challenges and Everyday Triumphs Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given an electronic ARC of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Many memoirs like Educated have amazed me with their realness and honesty. When I think they can’t astonish me anymore, they do something extraordinary and then some. Today’s subject From the Sidelines to the Finish Line: A Chronic Illness Survivor’s Challenges and Everyday Triumphs by Emily Falcon does just that. It’s a powerful story about a woman with a congenital heart condition who survives by living the life that she wants to live.

From the Sidelines to the Finish Line: A Chronic Illness Survivor’s Challenges and Everyday Triumphs is the story of one woman’s lifelong journey with a congenital cardiac condition. In 1982, at seven weeks old, Emily had a heart attack that destroyed 40% of the left side of her heart. This led to her having multiple heart procedures, surgeries, and hospitalizations, and on top of that, she was later diagnosed with glaucoma. Balancing these conditions was the story of her life to the point that she had to ask permission from her doctors to perform activities that would be considered extraneous. Then in 2017, when things couldn’t get any better, she had her second open-heart surgery, which allowed to participate in a 5K race only eight months later. She was no longer stuck on the sidelines. Not only is this a story of survival and how her condition shaped and limited Emily, but also it’s one where she recounts the ways in which she overcame obstacles that people who live with similar conditions and their supports might face.

The memoir consists of two parts. The first is about her chronic illnesses and how she navigated through them. The second is about her life during and after her second open-heart surgery as well as how she found the ability to live with barely any limitations.

I was interested in Emily’s story from the very beginning. It’s very easy for an author to get so wrapped up in the story to the point that they are defined by what they have been through. That’s not the case for her. While she relayed the facts about her heart conditions and the two surgeries, she allowed readers to get to know her. Falcon cherishes her best friend Mabel, who also has heart issues, and loves her family, to travel, and to eat pasta whenever she can. I also thought it was cute that her mom called her Benjamin (as in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) when Emily’s condition improved after her first surgery.

I was also intrigued by how Emily felt about the whole ordeal of having a heart condition. She recounts that after confessing to people that she has congenital heart failure, they would often complement her for being so brave. However, she never felt that way because all she was doing was surviving. This was compelling since I never thought of it that way. Deciding to have a second open-heart surgery may seem brave, for it hangs on either life or death when completed. But for people like Emily, they are simply choices they have to take to extend their longevity and to thrive.

One of the themes that ran in this memoir was speaking up for one’s self. Emily explains that she always had a hard time advocating for herself because doctors and medical students would probe, prod, and look at her as if she was an object. It didn’t help that many of the professionals whom she saw were ones that came off as cold and aloof according to her. Overtime, she found cardiologists who were willing to see her as a human. This made me think, “If only she had Dr. Stephen Stowers as her cardiologist.”

Much like Stowers in Box of Birds, Emily communicates her ideas clearly. Through the book, she frequently mentions how she didn’t really know what was truly going on with her heart until she was an adult. That’s why she does her best to explain what her heart condition entails and other medical terms. Specifically, at seven weeks old, she was diagnosed with an anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA). She defines it as what happened when the “left coronary artery, which carries blood to the heart muscle, arose from the pulmonary artery instead of the aorta,” and this prevented “the heart’s blood supply from having sufficient oxygen and blood pressure” (p. 6). 

She even includes a Medical Glossary section as a reference. This is extremely helpful because the first half was all about how she dealt with her chronic illnesses, so naturally, that part was littered with that terminology.

Another theme was about not being afraid to expand one’s boundaries. As mentioned earlier, a good chunk of Emily’s life was dictated by the cardiologists. She had to be careful about what she could and couldn’t do. For example, she couldn’t participate in gym classes in the same way other kids could. Even when the teacher let the students run/walk at their own pace, she wasn’t allowed that option. That infuriated me because it’s insulting when opportunities are presented and taken away at the same time. Despite this, she had the motto, “Don’t waste a second.” This led to her traveling extensively to places like London, France, Norway, and Japan. Then, after she had her second open-heart surgery, Emily began to do other things like working temporarily in Alaska and the aforementioned 5K race without asking her doctors first. These helped her test her abilities both physically and emotionally.

To add to that point, the forward is written by Russ Hoft – President and CEO of the Hoyt Foundation. His brother Rick had cerebral palsy and was a non speaking quadriplegic, yet he and their dad ran races like the Boston Marathon. They had the motto “Yes You Can.”

While the first half of the book was super engaging, the second faltered a little bit after the 5K race section. This was because she was listing her accomplishments with some passages about how she felt about them. It’s not the first time that I’ve encountered this (*cough Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle). Nonetheless, her achievements are still extraordinary, and reading about them was still interesting.

From the Sidelines to the Finish Line: A Chronic Illness Survivor’s Challenges and Everyday Triumphs by Emily Falcon was an enjoyable memoir about a woman who learns to choose what she wants to do with her life despite having a cardiac condition. I loved getting to know her and her perspective on various things. This made me want to root for her when she was faced with challenges. I would recommend this to those who have similar conditions or know someone who does as well as to readers who love memoirs that tackle survival despite the obstacles. I hope memoirs continue to amaze me just like this one does.

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