Heart transplant gives doctor second chance, first novel
Possessing a bright mind, a keen understanding of science and a love of history and the written word, Theodore Morrison Homa always had a goal to write a novel.
To give birth to his dream, all he needed was some free time — and a new heart.
“I've always enjoyed history and English and I've always wanted to write. But I never had time because of the medical practice,” says Dr. Homa, 66, a Northwest Suburban Physicians' internist and gerontologist who serves as the certified medical director for the Lutheran Home senior living community in Arlington Heights.
Then came a catastrophic illness. Doctors told him he needed a new heart.
“I was terrified and tried to go to great lengths not to have it,” Homa says of the heart transplant. He spent the summer of 2008 as a heart patient at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. As he waited for his new heart, Homa was given a left ventricle assist device, a man-made pump that helped his damaged heart keep him alive.
“I lived for six months with that thing until I got a heart transplant,” Homa remembers. “I used to take it for walk around Arlington Heights. I'd walk six miles a day, lugging this thing behind me.”
On Jan. 4, 2009, a donor heart was flown in from Detroit, and Homa underwent transplant surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
“I was prepared to die. I was ready. I made a will. I knew what was happening,” the doctor says. “What I wasn't prepared for was the excitement of realizing I was going to live. When it happened, I realized I had a marvelous opportunity, a second chance at life.”
Forced to take time away from his medical practice during his recovery, Homa started working on his novel.
“It got tempered in the fire of my own illness,” says Homa, who spent about a year and a half researching and writing a book that combines all his interests.
“I put in some genuine science. I also put in what I thought was a good history with a little science fiction and a lot of romance,” Homa says. “When you write a historical novel, the worst thing you can do is write bad history.”The result is #8220;Archimedes' Claw,#8221; a book Homa self-published through AuthorHouse and now sells on amazon.com. Hunted by CIA agents, Finn McGee, the book's main character and a brilliant doctor and scientist, figures out the secret of time travel. He travels back to the time of Archimedes, the ancient Greek mathematician and inventor who was killed during the Siege of Syracuse despite orders by Roman leaders to keep him alive.While Homa hesitates to give away too much of the mysterious plot, online reviews at amazon.com call it #8220;historical science fiction#8221; with a little #8220;weird science#8221; and religion.Homa, a member of St. James Parish in Arlington Heights, says his book #8220;is not about God#8221; but does echo many of his beliefs.#8220;The book is essentially about intelligent design,#8221; Homa says. #8220;I happen to be a Christian, but I'm a scientist and I think the two views are compatible. I think intelligent design is even more masterful than creation. I think creation was the creator setting up a set of rules and establishing the cosmos in a very precise way. Intelligent design is a much more reasonable, rational approach to creationism.#8221;Homa says he died for a moment during his heart ordeal and was brought back to life. That experience cemented his belief in life after death.#8220;I came away with a renewed faith, and I'm absolutely convinced there is an afterlife and there is a God,#8221; says Homa. #8220;Although I didn't see God, I understood his message while I was floating around out there.#8221;Back full time to his medical practice, Homa says his experience as a patient has made him an even better doctor.#8220;There isn't a patient that doesn't get enough of my time. I don't work for money. I am completely driven by quality patient care,#8221; Homa says, adding that he also takes time to remember his heart donor. #8220;I thank his family spiritually every day.#8221;With the new heart, Homa says he feels #8220;40 years younger,#8221; is happy with his novel and started working on his next big project shortly after he finished his debut book.#8220;A month later,#8221; Homa says, #8220;I sat down at the computer and typed out the first several paragraphs of the sequel.#8221;