From Surviving to Thriving: The Power is in Our Stories
Hello, my name is Bruce Johnson, and I am so glad that you have discovered the Web site for my book, Heart to Heart. You don't have to be a person recovering from a heart attack or some form of cardiovascular disease to find a home here. However, if you have survived a coronary episode or simply want to begin a new heart healthy lifestyle, this is the place for you, your loved ones and maybe even your friends.
I am a veteran broadcast journalist in Washington, DC, and I suffered a massive heart attack at the age of 42 while on assignment in a tough DC neighborhood. I had ignored the typical heart attack signs; they were not sudden, but slow and rather mild. I thought it was indigestion or even cramps from too many sit-ups at the gym the night before. My overall discomfort eventually gave way to a persistent pain in the center of my chest.
Bruce Johnson talks about the power of heart attack survivors sharing their stories with other survivors.
I was very lucky because my photographer drove me to a firehouse and from there I was rushed to a hospital. Within hours I had undergone emergency angioplasty. At least one million people will have heart attacks this year. Half won't be as lucky as me.
In Heart to Heart, we are trying to save lives, by first telling my story and those of a diverse group of eleven other men and women, who survived heart attacks or some other near fatal coronary episodes. It's no longer a disease that strikes just older white men. This is an equal opportunity killer that attacks more women than all other diseases combined, including breast cancer.
This isn't another medical book. The doctors have had their say; Heart to Heart is from patients, who for the first time in their lives are willing to share their most intimate fears about dying and then their soaring expectations about thriving during their recoveries.
I pushed myself and the people in my book to reveal some of their own embarrassing or reckless behavior that could have contributed to their health crisis.
Families were stressed, divorces occurred, jobs were lost. In the end, new and better lives were discovered.
If there is a history of heart disease in your family, explore this web site to learn more and then order Heart to Heart. If you merely want to begin a new heart healthy lifestyle as we did, then explore this Web site and order my book right here online. I promise it will be one of the best gifts that you can give yourself.
