“This has been the most amazing year. I can honestly say that the months leading up to my bypass were the darkest of my life. My continued weight gain, and thus my more labored breathing, had caused me to really start to doubt that I had much longer on earth if I didn’t do something to change my life. So it’s really an understatement to say that my life has changed this year; my life has begun again this year. My health is better, my voice is back after seven years as a mute, and I have freedom again without the need for oxygen tanks and machines to help me breathe.        

I now have a future again. I’m looking forward to going back to work soon. I have found love again, and have once again started to make plans for the future, instead of assuming that I don’t have one to look forward to.”