There’s a part of the recovery manual that’s missing. Hell, there is no recovery manual. After my heart event, my brain changed . And I’m not talking about ‘oops, I forgot where I put my keys.’ I’m talking about a system failure . I’m talking about the lights being on, but the wires being frayed. I’ll be in the middle of writing a blog… or sharing my lived experience… something I know in my bones… and then my mind goes blank. 📖 The word disappears. 📖 The thought disappears.

As a patient, I used to think success meant walking out of the hospital. Now I know success is what happens in the months and years after. This piece shares the “fine print” many of us only learn once we’re already living it. At HeartBridge Collective , we believe lived experience belongs at the center of the clinical conversation—not as an afterthought. Patients are not just study subjects. We are partners in shaping better care. Without a patient voice, the full picture is

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

Sometimes healing isn’t loud — it’s one quiet change that means everything. When Dr. Beglin told me he was cutting my BUMEX  to just 0.25 mg every other day , I sat there shocked. I haven’t been without a diuretic since 1987 , when I was diagnosed with idiopathic fibrosing mediastinitis  — a rare disease of unknown causes, that creates scar tissue to grow inside the chest, squeezing the lungs and blood vessels and making it harder for my heart to work. Back then, medicine was

The unseen moments that define what it means to keep going. At one point in my journey, my whole life felt ruled by lab results. Every...

When my heart starts to race or flutter, it can sometimes stop me in my tracks. It’s like my whole day suddenly changes. Fear shows up...

I spent two years on hospice  because my tricuspid valve disease had no good options. Surgery wasn’t possible for me, medicines weren’t...

How Heart Valve Disease Taught Me to Listen to My Body's Other Rhythms Hey everyone, you know I'm a big advocate for heart valve disease...

We are living in an extraordinary era for medicine. Every day, it seems we hear about new breakthroughs, from revolutionary medical...

When new trial results are announced, the headlines often sound hopeful: “this treatment helped most patients.” But averages only tell...

Early follow-ups kept me seen. Then came the silence. As part of an Early Feasibility Study , my first year after receiving a...

People are breaking down in Facebook comments—because they can’t afford their Eliquis. It’s hard to read.Some are skipping doses.Others...

Heart stuff is never simple, especially when you’ve walked through it like I have. But sometimes, we get a bit of good news in the...

📍 Washington, D.C. | June 7–9, 2025 ✉️ Hosted by the Partnership to Advance Cardiovascular Health (PACH) I’ve learned that life after...

There are moments in life that stick with you, not because they were grand or planned, but because they were real . Because they reminded...

Heart health isn’t just about what’s on your plate or how often you move. It runs deeper than that. It’s woven into your DNA, passed down...

Flip the Fear: Why Listening to Your Body Could Save Your Life Let’s be honest—most of us avoid the doctor until we absolutely have to....

This isn’t an easy conversation, but it’s one we have  to keep having. Healthcare isn’t equal for everyone, and while I haven’t lived...

When I was in hospice, battling torrential tricuspid valve regurgitation I was also fighting Stage IV congestive heart failure (CHF), one...