When I Wished upon a Star: From Broken Homes to Mended Hearts

by Brandon Lane Phillips, Jeremy Miller

Growing up as a patient with congenital heart disease, Brandon Lane Phillips often felt alone. He knew no one else who had his heart condition and believed no one understood his condition. Brandon believed he would die young. Like many congenital heart patients, he wondered if he would have a long life. It is only natural to question one’s mortality when open-heart surgery is what enabled you to survive childhood. Brandon worried that his heart defect caused his parents’ divorce and questioned just how much his illness had affected his siblings since so much extra attention was devoted to him. He longed to have the type of close relationship with his father that he saw on many of his favorite TV shows. At 11 years of age, he was so desperate to find answers that he asked God to show him that He loved him. Soon after, he received a wish to meet child actor Jeremy Miller from TV’s Growing Pains . Brandon had wished to meet him because he envied his “perfect” fictional family. After one of the show’s stars told Brandon that God had a plan for his life, Brandon left the set that evening feeling that the trip had been orchestrated as an answer to his prayer. There are several God-like coincidences that occur along Brandon’s path of becoming a pediatric cardiologist. Many times when Brandon would face a life experience big enough to shake his faith, an improbable experience would occur that would remind him of his wish and God’s answer to his prayer. Throughout his career, he would encounter other patients who felt alone and had questions about their own mortality. Brandon chose medicine as his profession because he greatly admired his childhood pediatric cardiologist. And even though a need for a second open-heart surgery at the beginning of medical school threatened Brandon’s dream of becoming a physician, he would ultimately be trained by the very physicians who had cared for him. Brandon’s journey of hope found within the pages of When I Wished Upon a Star is a story of giving back and finding purpose in life through the intervention of God’s great grace and perfect timing. The other life examined in this book belongs to Jeremy Miller, child actor, celebrity wish, and the friend who played an important role in Brandon’s journey. Brandon’s life truly changed forever after having met Jeremy on the television set of Growing Pains . While Brandon was dealing with his struggles, so too was Jeremy. In When I Wished Upon a Star , Jeremy shares “secrets” from his childhood that have previously gone untold. It would be easy to say that Jeremy was a child star, and that historically, most child stars aren’t expected to have a good end. Still Jeremy’s secrets shocked Brandon and brought him to tears. They also shed light on the reason for Jeremy’s battle with alcohol. Brandon would learn that Jeremy, too, envied the life that his fictional character lived. And so when the TV show ended, Jeremy almost did too. At the time of his wish, only God could have predicted how Brandon’s life and those of the stars of his favorite TV show would intertwine in the decades to follow; no one could have foreseen that a wish made by a young boy would give both he and Jeremy hope for their future and help them find purpose in the lives they were created for by a loving God--lives that would live on despite troubles and despair. Brandon was meant to use the experiences of his childhood to help others. It is the only way to explain how his life has come full circle time and time again.

292 pages, Hardcover

Published October 20, 2020

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I wished upon a star review
4 1/2 stars

I am fighting with myself on this one for not giving it 5 stars, because I do not like to give bad ratings to memoirs. This story is outstanding and one that should be told, but I believe this memoir brushed over some outstanding feats and focused A LOT on the mundane, uninteresting stuff. Ok let’s get down to the nitty gritty groove of it:


𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:
Brandon Lane Philips was born in the 1970s with a rare congenital heart disease. He was looking at a short life and was in and out of hospitals from when he was born throughout his childhood. Eventually, through hard work, dedication, and his strong devotion to God, Brandon makes it through medical school, eventually becoming a super specialized pediatric cardiologist. He ended up having as a mentor the cardiologist that performed his first open heart surgery and becoming friends with Jeremy from the hit tv show Growing Pains, helping him on the way.



𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝:
It was a heartwarming story. Reading the story you can’t help but absolutely adore Brandon (Dr. Lane Philips) for his tremendous resilience, passion, intelligence, and remarkable empathy. Reading this book makes you really want to become his friend and Jeremy Miller was lucky to have him as such. The setbacks that Brandon had to go through are remarkable and I’m glad he wrote this memoir.
On the surface, When I Wish Upon a Star is about Dr. Lane Philips overcoming his heart defect and making it into one of the most difficult specialties of medicine to enter (and thrive!). This story is what "When Breath Becomes Air" would have been like if Paul Kalanithi had lived (oh what a better world we would be living in).



𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥):
The author focuses a lot more on his dysfunctional family dynamics (his absent father) than on the recovery and hardship that came with his heart condition. I am sure this was cathartic for the author but it was a bit less interesting for the reader. P.S. His mom sounds like such an awesome woman, I am so glad parents like her exist.


Also the author refers to his parents as ‘’mama’’ and ‘’daddy’’ which is a pet peeve of mine for adults to talk of their parents this way. It just sounds a bit childish and that is made worse when consuming the book as an audiobook.


𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭:
Yes, but with some hesitations. If you are looking for a story of resilience and hope, this is the book for you. However, if you want something that is going to keep you on the edge of your seat, then I would suggest reading something else. I would, however, HIGHLY SUGGEST that this author do a TED talk.

[Star Gater · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Brandon Lane Phillips for accepting my request to audibly read and review When I Wished Upon A Star.

Authors: Brandon Lane Phillips & Jeremy Miller
Published: 09/14/22
Narrators: Max Adler & Kirk Cameron
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs -- Christian

Brandon was a wish kid wth a heart disease. His desire was to meet the cast of Growing Pains.

This is the story of his life thus far. Brandon has gone on to become a pediatric cardiologist and lifelong friends with Kirk & Chelsea Cameron as well as Jeremy Miller and his wife and kids.

Brandon points out when he believes God has intervened in his life. He discusses highs and lows that he and Jeremy have had.

This makes a nice car audiobook, a snow day or bible study.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this glimpse into the lives of two seemingly different boys: Brandon Phillips and Jeremy Miller. Their lives may have been different but they were destined to meet and have a profound effect on each other. Through their faith in God and love, they are able to help each other through difficult times and become the people they are today. Highly recommended as a heartwarming, feel good story.

I received a copy from #NetGalley for an honest review.

[Amy M. Le · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I begin? This memoir was well-written and organized. My favorite part about memoirs is the photos. Brandon & Jeremy included a lot of pictures and it didn't disappoint.

I laughed and teared up with this book. It is no wonder it won the Baby Hearts Press People's Choice Awards. As a heart warrior who was born with a congenital heart defect, I could appreciate Brandon's journey through his CHD. He shares his triumphs and tribulations with such heart, bravery, humor, and raw emotion. As a busy author, business owner, and mother, it is rare that I can consume a book in less than a month, having to read a chapter here and there over the course of weeks. This book, however, hooked me from the getgo and had me intrigued all through the three days it took me to go from beginning to the end.

Growing up in the '80s as a new refugee kid from Vietnam, sitcom shows like Growing Pains were how I learned English. As a girl growing up in a foreign country, I was mesmerized by how Americans lived on TV. I admit I had a crush on Kirk Cameron and Alan Thicke then. To get a little insight into the actors' lives off-screen, especially Jeremy Miller's, was eye-opening. Jeremy's plight reminds us we all have our demons and hardships, no matter who we are or who we become. However, it is through love and acceptance, being surrounded by a tribe who loves and cares about us, that we can learn to forgive and trust in ourselves. There is hope and redemption. There is the ability to come back stronger than ever after being on the brink of one's personal hell.

Thank you Brandon and Jeremy for writing this book. Thank you also to Kirk Cameron who wrote the introduction and Peter Samuelson for the beautiful forward. Also thank you Joanie for not giving up on Jeremy.

Consuming Read!!

[Tara Alemany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to Brandon's story. It's not that common for people to evaluate the events of their own life insightfully, yet when we do, we can often find threads that bind us to others woven throughout our lives. But that's exactly what Brandon has done here.

My main disappointment with the book was that, with Jeremy Miller receiving an author attribution, I'd expected some of the story to be from his viewpoint. Instead, everything is told from Brandon's perspective, although he shares a lot about Jeremy's life. I would have preferred hearing about Jeremy's life from Jeremy himself. So, I felt the co-author attribution was misleading.

Overall, I found the book enjoyable, although a bit repetitive at times.

Thank you to Brandon Lane Phillips and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

[Shelley Marushak Langelaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always find digging into people’s stories interesting. There are usually things that I can relate to and things that I can learn from. I found Brandon’s story to be a bit of both. I really loved how he was able to see how God was always working in his life - even when he was not able to see it at the time.

My only disappointment with this book is not hearing ‘the story’ at all from Jeremey’s perspective.


Thank you to Brandon Lane Phillips and NetGalley for the advance review copy

[Shelley Marushak Langelaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always find digging into people’s stories interesting. There are usually things that I can relate to and things that I can learn from. I found Brandon’s story to be a bit of both. I really loved how he was able to see how God was always working in his life - even when he was not able to see it at the time.

My only disappointment with this book is not hearing ‘the story’ at all from Jeremey’s perspective.


Thank you to Brandon Lane Phillips and NetGalley for the advance review copy

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this book by brandon and jermey is amazing and powerful. It gives us great faith that God's woek is amazing and his purpose for us is his work in us a whole not just you alone but the friends you made, the people in your life has a profound impact on your journey. Thank you Brandon Phillips and Jeremy Miller for this beautiful book. I give it a 5 star

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up watching Growing Pains so I found this memoir where the author was inspired by his interaction with that cast intriguing. I also have a friend his son was recently diagnosed with the same heart defect that the author had. I was glad to see that his heart issues have not prevented the author from pursuing his dreams and have allowed him to help and inspire others.

[Renee Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book because of the author. I grew up off and on in Jena. As he told his story I recognized names and places in his story. It took me back. His courage and faith are a testament to Prayers.