The Story

For more than two decades, I lived with congestive heart failure. I managed it through diet, discipline, and stubbornness—and for a long time, that was enough. Then it wasn’t.

In the fall of 2024, I arrived at a hospital unable to walk more than ten feet on my own. My ejection fraction was 5%. Death came to my bedside more than once. More than once, I told it no.

On November 9th, 2024, a surgeon removed my heart and replaced it with someone else’s. This is the story of what led to that moment, what happened in the OR, and what life looks like on the other side of it.