I love when patients in our community send me their success stories. For example, Frank Collura just brought a smile to my face. Here's what Frank emailed me:

During these challenging times of uncertainty, confusion and disbelief caused by COVID-19, I was lucky to just experience an unexpected and inspirational moment thanks to John Roland and Larry Manshel.

My heart warms anytime the patients in our community connect in person. I love seeing their smiling faces. I love seeing their hugs. I love knowing that their friendships continue into the future as their valve disease fades to the past.

Thanks to John O'Neill, the new year could not have started any better for our community.

The favorite part of my work as a patient advocate is connecting with the wonderful patients in our community.

Bill Legard is a very active 59-year old. He's a skydiver, a pilot, an entrepreneur and Bill makes parachutes for a living. On a recent hike in Indonesia, Bill struggled with shortness of breath. His cardiologist diagnosed Bill with severe aortic stenosis, a life-threatening form of heart valve disease.

Shortly after sharing this post about a cow valve replacement t-shirt, our Facebook page went bonkers with over 1,600 Facebook Likes.

The support and the encouragement that the patients in our community provide each other is simply amazing!

Ya just gotta see it... To love it.

Ya gotta love this...

With all the great results coming out about the low-risk TAVR clinical trials, I am very excited to share the patient success story of Jean Frank.

Unbelievable!

Many, many, many thanks to Mava Reif, from Saint Cloud, Florida, for inspiring our community!

I need to take a quick minute to thank Sara Colosimo for sharing her journey to a healthy heart with our community!!! If you have yet to visit Sara's Heart Valve Journal, now is your chance.

On behalf of our community... I am sending thoughts, prayers, condolences and love to the family and friends of Fran Zilko. I was soooo very sad to learn that Fran, who had successful aortic valve replacement surgery in 2010, passed away after a fall and issues with her kidneys, lungs and heart. Born in 1939, Fran was a nurse, a wife to Peter, a mother to Christine, Teresa and Stephen, and a grandmother to Michael, Katya and Frances.

Bob Taylor was running out of time. His heart valve disease was worsening and his insurance company just denied him a life-saving operation. Then, Bob's daughter heard about the Heart Valve CareLine. This is Bob's extraordinary story.

Something special recently happened. More than 100 patients and their care partners traveled to Edwards Lifesciences, a leading heart valve manufacturer in Irvine, California, to meet each other, to share their stories and to inspire action within our community – the heart valve patient community.

For years, I've heard about the fantastic, mind-body techniques of Peggy Huddleston. Many patients in our community, like Gina Fiorentino, have raved to me about the benefits of Peggy's book, "Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster". In addition, several cardiac centers - including Brigham & Women's Hospital and NYU Langone Medical Center - recommend Peggy's CD and MP3 to patients.

Thanks to Julie... I'm having another "Holy Moly" moment.

Yikes! Ugh! Gasp! Ready to learn why patient education and patient advocacy is so important for patients with heart valve disease?