A Miracle in Retrospect

I woke up one August morning this past summer, got out of bed and stumbled to the open window, panting for breath. For about 40 seconds, I could barely breathe. It was terrifying enough to send me straight to the ER.

I knew what was wrong. Almost 14 years earlier, I’d had open-heart sur-gery to replace the aortic valve I’d been born with. It was bicuspid, not tricuspid, as with most people. I’d been told at