By: Brendan Losinski | Troy Times | Published June 22, 2022
TROY — A Troy woman is getting the word out about heart health and organ donation through her new memoir.
Kristy Sidlar, of Troy, was a fitness instructor who learned she had heart failure. She lived to tell about it, thanks to a heart transplant one year ago at Henry Ford Health System, and now she wants to help others create their own plans for healthier lifestyles and overall wellness.
“The reason I wrote my book is my heart health journey,” Sidlar explained. “Back when I was 27, in 1996, I learned that something was wrong, and doctors said there was something, probably minor. A couple of years later, I was doing 100-mile bike rides and a lot of heavy exercise. In 1999, I had a cardiac incident, and it almost killed me. My heart rate was up to almost 300 beats per minute. I was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. They said it was only going to get worse over time. Fast forward many years later, I went into heart failure. This was in the summer of 2020. I was scheduled for a heart transplant.”
It was after this heart transplant that Sidlar, who had been a Southeast Michigan American Heart Association board member for several years prior to the transplant, wanted to take steps to get her whole life in order. From this, she decided she wanted to help others do the same.
“The book was really a revelation that I had when I got out of the hospital after my heart transplant,” she said. “I was as healthy as I could be. I was recovering well, and I credited that to my mental wellness, my financial wellness and my social wellness. My overall message was that we need to take care of ourselves, especially if we are the sort of person who always is taking care of others.”
The book that resulted, “Change of Heart: My Journey of Transplantation, Revelation & Transformation,” is now a No. 1 new release on Amazon.com. Sidlar said she knew there was plenty of advice out there for heart health or emotional assistance, but very few talk about putting all those aspects of living a healthy, balanced life together.
“I’m not a psychologist or a spiritual guru or a financial planner, but I try to tell people about how they can make some small incremental improvements in their lives and stay well on a day-to-day basis by focusing on the six dimensions of wellness,” said Sidlar. “These are physical, social, emotional, spiritual, financial and vocational.”
Her book was released on March 29, just over one year after her transplant. It has already had an impact. Reader Lisa Fitzgerald said “Change of Heart” has made a huge difference in her life.
“Since I met Kristy, she has been inspirational,” Fitzgerald said. “Her approach to life and its inherent bumps and setbacks has helped me with my own approach to my journey with a lifelong illness.”
She characterized Sidlar’s work as helpful and proactive, but something humorous and accessible.
“With humor and a positive attitude, she outlines her journey, as well as provides a simplified, realistic approach to wellness,” said Fitzgerald. “Her ‘guilt-free’ Wellness Widget reminds us that it’s OK to be imperfective but (to also) keep striving to be the best you can be. We are all on a different wellness journey, and Kristy, through sharing hers, will inspire readers as they map out their own personal path.”
“Very quickly I realized that Kristy’s book is one that should be on every nightstand. She delivered her story and experiences in such a relatable way, even though she was navigating a very serious heart condition!” health podcast host Ali Long wrote in an email. “Kristy’s book details everything leading up to her new heart and she cleverly weaves in life lessons, the sacrifices we make and highlights the importance of really listening to your body!”
Long added that Sidlar’s book can show that there is hope at times when health crises can seem overwhelming.
“I met Kristy over a decade ago working for the American Heart Association, and as you’ll learn in her book, she is a force, the ultimate ambassador and the kind of friend you hold onto dearly,” she wrote. “The day I found out she was getting a new heart I was beaming from head to toe! Throughout my career I met many people that needed a new heart and it always seemed so ‘far fetched’ that the stars would align and the perfect heart would be found.”
The book is now available on Amazon.com, Target.com, and Barnesandnoble.com. More information is available at www.changeofheartmemoir.com. She noted that she also is available for speaking engagements.
Sidlar said she wrote “Change of Heart” with the idea that while not everyone is going to have cardiac problems, everyone has some aspect of their life they could benefit from getting in order.
“Not everyone is going to be recovering from heart surgery, but we’re all going to experience some sort of trauma, and the book talks about how to inspire people to make changes,” she said. “Now the book has been purchased on four continents, and I think it has made a difference in people to make positive changes in their lives.”
It was this focus on others that convinced her that writing about her experiences would not only be the best way to help herself, but also to make the world a better place.
“I was recovering very well,” she remarked. “My surgery went well and my time in the hospital was shorter than I expected. My recovery exercises were going well. People were telling me I must be healthy. The revelation part of the book’s title came from how I was seeing the other people recovering in the hospital and wondering if they were coming home to an employer who wasn’t supportive of their health or a spouse that was stressful or that they wanted to go back to smoking or drinking. There were a lot of people who weren’t as equipped to recover as I was. This made me want to write the book.”