If there is one thing I know about heart valve surgery patients, they thrive following heart surgery.

Yes. There is fear going through the process.

Yes. There is pain.

Yes. There are typically tears during recovery.

However, in all of my research and patient interviews, there is ALSO a love for life in most heart valve surgery patients knowing they have a “Second Chance” at life. As I have written before, my recent 2007 online survey of 78 patients illustrates how heart valve surgery patients turn lemon into lemonade.

One of my personal heroes is Veronika Meyer, the mountain climber extraordinaire. I was so inspired by her patient success story that I wrote and feature a story on Veronika in my book.

Veronika Meyer Climbs Mount Everest

Anyway, I just learned from Amy Ellis at St. Jude Medical ^[1] that Veronika Meyer was featured in Newsweek Online just a few days ago. Needless to say, Veronika is an inspiration to us all. It took her several attempts but she finally made it to the summit of Mount Everest.

Keep on tickin!