When you live inside a clinical trial for years, it becomes more than just a medical study. It becomes part of your life story. Five years is a long time.  It is filled with appointments, travel, tests, forms, and scans. It means having people checking on you constantly and knowing you are part of something much bigger than yourself. When it ended, I felt like a major chapter of my life was closing. A few things were happening at the same time: I was a patient, but I was also

When people talk about clinical trials, they often talk about outcomes, data, and approvals. But what mattered most in my journey wasn’t just that a trial existed. It was how supported or unsupported I felt while living inside it. Behind every study are real people trying to survive long enough to reach the next option. And sometimes the hardest part isn’t the science. It’s the space in between. Here are some of the realities I lived through that rarely show up in trial repor

There’s a moment in healthcare that quietly shapes everything that comes after. I’ve lived it. It isn’t the test result, the gradient numbers, or even the final diagnosis. It’s the first contact. The first look. The first tone of voice. For me, that moment of safety didn't happen in a consultation room, it happened in a hallway during a 6-minute walk test. The Voice I Already Knew I remember my initial visit with the clinical trial doctors. It was during the height of COVID,

Cardiovascular disease is not rare. In the United States, nearly half of adults are living with some form of heart or blood vessel disease. It can affect anyone at any age, race, or background. But women face a different kind of risk. It is not just biological risk; it is a system risk. The medical system often fails to recognize these symptoms in women. Chest pain. Shortness of breath. Crushing fatigue. Dizziness. Swelling in your legs. Numbness that comes and goes. Too many

Structural heart disease is not always a one valve problem. In today’s world of rapid transcatheter innovation, new clinical trials for aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valve disease are changing lives. Patients who once had no options now have real hope through structural heart clinical trials and transcatheter therapies. Innovation is moving fast, and that is something to celebrate. But here is the question we need to start asking: what happens when a patient who joined one he

This perspective didn’t come overnight. It grew out of almost four decades of living as a patient inside the healthcare system. Because Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole Recovery Story The gap between what medicine measures and what patients actually live with. The gap between a “successful outcome” and what real recovery feels like. The gap between innovation moving fast and patients being left behind. I learned about this gap by living inside it. I was the patient who looked “fi

Why good medical news can still feel scary when you’ve lived through heart failure Friday, I walked into my cardiology follow-up feeling pretty confident. I’ve been feeling really good. Like… good-good. More energy. More good days than hard ones. That stretch where you finally start to exhale and think, “Okay… maybe we’re steady.” So I expected a normal appointment. Maybe a “keep doing what you’re doing.” Maybe a small adjustment. But what I heard instead? I was not ready for

Tricuspid Valve Regurgitation, Explained in Plain Language I’m listening to a non-invasive cardiologist  explain tricuspid valve regurgitation (TR)  grades, and I hear this a lot: “Mild” and “trace” are clinically irrelevant.They don’t matter. I understand what that means medically .But here’s the truth — it still matters to patients. Let me explain why 👇 🩺 What Doctors Are Taught In medical training and guidelines: Trace or mild TR is very common Many healthy people have i

You may remember I wrote about a scheduling " snafu " earlier this year. I wish I were writing to say things have improved. Instead, I am posting this update because the same communication problems continue to affect my clinical trial care. This isn’t just about one missed appointment or a simple mistake. It is an ongoing pattern—a systemic problem that places the burden of coordination directly on the patient.  It is creating stress that doesn’t need to exist—for me or

A reflection on love, responsibility, and learning to care for yourself while caring for someone else. I was caregiving long before I was able to consent to caregiving and simply because I loved my mom and I knew she needed help. I think one of the hardest parts of being a caregiver and someone who grew up in that role is you’re faced with understanding your own mortality, as well as others, very quickly. You quickly learn how complicated and unfair life is. You quickly learn

As this year comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the last 12 months of my personal life. A lot of it was heavy. A lot of it required honesty — even when I didn’t feel ready for it. If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s this: life doesn’t wait for us to feel ready. A Year That Didn’t Pause ⏳ This year, my husband Louis faced a cancer recurrence while I was dealing with my own cancer scare. There was no pause button.No moment where life slowed down so we could catch o

Some seasons in caregiving feel like you’re holding your breath… and then finally letting out a slow exhale when you hear, “He’s doing okay.” That’s where we are right now. Louis had another round of scans this fall. The good news? Most of the swollen lymph nodes in his body have stayed the same or gotten smaller. The only change was under his left arm, where the nodes got bigger — so his doctor did a biopsy to check everything. The biopsy confirmed his CLL is still present,

Our Most-Listened Episode of 2025 🌟 This episode showed up big on Spotify Wrapped — with 63% more listens than any other episode this year. And honestly, that doesn’t surprise me. Because this conversation needed to happen. ❤️ Why This Episode Matters In this roundtable episode of Heart to Heart Talk, I sat down with Azure Burrell and Katherine Waddell to talk about an issue that still doesn’t get the attention it deserves: Black women’s heart health . 🫀 Heart diseas

Proof that healing is possible, even when the journey takes longer than expected. Rachelle’s story reminds us that second chances are worth the wait.  First off, my name is Rachelle, and I'm thrilled to share my journey with you. Originally from Colorado, I now call Oregon home, and I'm grateful for the fresh start. I've always been passionate about exploring the mountains, and the views are simply breathtaking. However, it was during these adventures that I first noticed som

Why awareness, earlier answers, and patient voices matter in carcinoid heart disease and valve care ✨ What I Learned Today I love sharing the things I learn along the way, especially when it’s something I wish patients were told sooner. Today’s lesson? How some rare cancers can damage the heart long before anyone realizes what’s happening and why this matters more than people think! Some rare cancers, like carcinoid tumors, can release too much serotonin into the bloodstream.

❤️‍🩹 A patient’s perspective from someone who lived early feasibility When you’re one of the first people to receive a new heart valve, you learn pretty quickly that innovation is both a miracle and an evolving standard of care. I was an early feasibility EVOQUE patient — part of the group whose outcomes helped shape future FDA approval. The valve saved my life. But being in that first wave also meant stepping into a space where long-term answers were still being written. Th

Get a free personalized guide you can take straight to your doctor. Knowledge can be life-saving.And when it comes to heart valve disease, sometimes the only difference between catching it early or ending up in a crisis … is knowing what to ask. I found a tool I really wish more people knew about — especially women. We get brushed off way too often as “tired,” “stressed,” or “just busy.”Meanwhile, our hearts might be working twice as hard just to keep up. This quick assessme

Some days, clinical trials remind me of show-and-tell back in kindergarten. Remember that? You didn’t just talk  about your awesome toy — you brought it in! You showed it. You let people hold it, look at it, and ask questions to really understand what made it special. Honestly… I wish clinical trials were more like that. Before anyone tries to “explain the benefits” or hands me a huge stack of papers with words I can barely pronounce, I want to see  — really see — what this t

Your story, your chemistry, your care — no one else’s body works like yours. Have you ever stopped and thought about how no two people are exactly the same?Not even identical twins. We might share the same diagnosis or take the same pill, but inside, our bodies work in their own way.Our genes, hormones, gut bacteria, past illnesses, and even how we handle stress make us unique.That’s what makes life interesting and what also makes medicine complicated. 🧬 Medicine Talks in Av

Because sometimes, healing begins when you start believing yourself. Some stories remind us just how much strength it takes to keep showing up when answers don’t come easily.Kayla’s journey with tricuspid valve disease began long before her diagnosis had a name — and her perseverance through years of uncertainty is a powerful reminder that advocacy often starts from the heart. A devoted wife, mother, and HeartBridge Collective member, Kayla has faced more than a decade of cha