Mary's Therapy Room wasn't a room at all. It was our backyard. No therapist ever sat there with me. There was no couch, nothing official about it at all. Just the deck, the open sky, and however many hours I needed on any given day. It was where I went to ground myself in nature the only kind of therapy available to me during the two years I spent in hospice, when my heart was failing and no one had an answer for how to fix it. I spent countless hours out there. Praying. Barg

I've told the outline of my story many times. A failing valve, hospice, a clinical trial, a second chance. What I haven't told is the part in the middle, the part that doesn't fit neatly into a sentence, because it isn't really a medical story. It's a waiting story. By the time I entered hospice, my tricuspid valve had already failed. My care team had been watching it happen for years, telling me plainly there was nothing yet available to fix it. That kind of sentence changes

For decades, if your heart needed fixing, there was really one answer: open-heart surgery. For most people, that's a serious but manageable proposition. But for cancer survivors people whose bodies have already been through radiation, chemotherapy, and the deep exhaustion of getting well once already that answer often came with an asterisk. Too complex. Too high-risk. Not a candidate. If you've heard those words from a doctor, you know exactly the feeling that follows: like a

In January 2021, I took a step into the unknown. If you had looked at my medical chart back then, you would have seen the clinical reality: torrential tricuspid regurgitation. But charts don’t capture what it actually feels like to live with a failing heart valve the exhausting fatigue, the shrinking of your daily world, and the heavy weight of knowing your options are running out. Then came an opportunity to participate in the #TriscendII Early Feasibility clinical trial Thi

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

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

I’ve experienced the healthcare system at its limits and I’ve experienced its breakthroughs. My journey took me from a hospital bed to hospice care to a clinical trial that changed the course of my life. So when I say clinical research should start with patients, I’m speaking from lived experience, from the places where the healthcare system didn’t quite hold. Patient-centered research sounds good on paper. And I truly believe most research teams care. I’ve met brilliant clin

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

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

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

Because lived experience explains the “why” behind every statistic. ❤️‍🩹 I can’t shake this one line that keeps echoing in my head: “Data comes alive through a real human story.” ✨ It sounds like something you’d jot down during a meeting about “impact,” right?But honestly… that line sums up my whole life.A little humbling. A little exhausting. And every bit is true. The Two Worlds We All Move Through 🌍 Most of us bounce between two very different worlds. 1. The World of