On the Way to Casa Lotus: A Memoir of Family, Art, Injury, and Forgiveness @ljuncomargain @absltmom #independentbooksellers #forgiveness #medical #memoir

MY REVIEW

On the Way to Casa Lotus: A Memoir of Family, Art, Injury, and Forgiveness, tells the story of a beautiful, artistic, wealthy, young Mexican girl named Lorena Margain. She is married to a wonderful man and together with family and friends they share a perfect existence. Perfect that is until, Lorena, pregnant with her third child starts to feel sick.

Nothing is wrong, the doctors say, but Lorena knows differently. All blame seems to fall on the pregnancy, Lorena’s busy life style, and the rigors of being a wife and mother. The family offers compassion, but there is little they can do other than to try and allay her fears. Lorena has her third child and looking for relief from the pain and suffering, she finds none to be had. She goes to see an endocrinologist and from there it is discovered that she has a growth on her adrenal gland. Although not cancerous, it must be removed and so Lorena schedules the surgery as soon as possible.

Of course, she and her family realize that the surgery will not make things better immediately, but as Lorena heals and goes home, the pain and suffering grow to major misery. She can’t function and for a woman who once had a zeal for life, she blames herself for not being better. Doctors suggest perhaps it’s psychosomatic and once again she wonders if indeed, she is the one creating this untenable life.

As she sinks deeper and deeper into pain, she becomes depressed knowing she is no wife to her beloved husband, Edwardo, or mother to her three young children. The family bands around her doing all they can to allay her situation. It is truly a loving family, one that supports each other no matter what.

Unbelievably, she eventually returns to her endocrinologist, and to both their shock and amazement, they find that the surgeon removed the incorrect gland and Lorena must endure surgery again on the other gland. The surgeon does her best and is able to save a part of the gland, but now Lorena must live differently from what she once was able to do.

Lorena and Edwardo, along with the family, are furious and want to sue the surgeon who made such a blunder, but as Lorena comes to fully understand both herself and life, she decides to not seek revenge against the surgeon.

In this horrible occurrence, Lorena learned that she must trust herself, know what her body feels and not rely on others’ opinions to set a course for her. It’s a cautionary tale, where so many of us who rush to find a cure to what ails us, perhaps, should listen more to our inner voice. We know ourselves better than anyone and we should always be our own health advocate, not afraid to question, and certainly always knowing when something is wrong.

This story of courage, strength, love, and the willingness to forgive and to move on, is a good lesson for us all. Perhaps if there was more forgiveness in our own life, we could go on as Lorena did, just happy to be alive with her husband, children, and family surrounding her.

Thank you to Lorena Margin, Independent Book Sellers, and NetGalley for this story.

And here’s the author:

Art collector, philanthropist, author of the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling memoir, On The Way To Casa Lotus!