Get Your Affairs in Order: My Heart Story

By Jeffrey Rogers Smith

The book lays out a foundation of circumstances that allows for the reader to see how God is always moving in the lives of His people. After providing some background, the author shares the specifics around being notified and ultimately walking through an experimental open heart surgery performed by Dr. Mehmet Oz at the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667838809

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Get Your Affairs in Order: My Heart Story

©2022 Jeffrey Rogers Smith. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other known or unknown at the time of publication – except for brief quotations in printed correspondence, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Disclaimer: The following information is offered purely as my personal account of the events in my life as I recall them.

Requests for information should be addressed to the author at: Jeffrey Rogers Smith [e-mail]

ISBN: 978-1-66-783880-9

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

DR. MEHMET OZ

INTRODUCTION

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

THE EARLY YEARS

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY

THE NOTIFICATION

LISTENING TO THE SMALL VOICE

THE CALL

ENLIGHTENED LESSON-HOPE

THE DECISION

ALTERED MINDSET

THE FAMILY RESPONDS

THE TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY

THE ADVENTURE IN NEW YORK CITY

U.S. OPEN

OH NO, NOT AGAIN

THE DAY OF SURGERY: AN AWAKENING

ENLIGHTENED LESSON-FAITH

CINDY’S CHANGING WORLD

HELLO WORLD

MOVING ABOUT NEW YORK (SORT OF)

A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

GOING BACK TO THE HOSPITAL

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

HOME SWEET HOME

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

HERE WE GO AGAIN

SURGERY NUMBER TWO

MOST VALUABLE HEART LESSONS

ENLIGHTENED LESSON-LOVE

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my wife and partner in life of over forty years. Throughout that time, Cindy has walked beside me, and together we have learned so much. The biggest takeaway from this book I believe came from Cindy and her ability to recognize the many nuggets that God provided to us along this Treasure Hunt. We have learned so much through our life’s adventures and challenges, but more importantly, it is through some of our most difficult moments that we found laughter, love, and some of our most special memories. There is no doubt that God has blessed our marriage and our family.

DR. MEHMET OZ

Anyone can research and find Dr. Mehmet Oz’s extensive background, but most people only know him from his appearances with Oprah Winfrey and his nationally syndicated TV show. It’s interesting how many people I have encountered who didn’t know Dr. Oz is a licensed cardiologist and a fellow in cardiology and that he performs surgeries as a cardiothoracic surgeon.

He loves to communicate with the public about their many health issues, and his television exposure allows him to enhance his career by spreading his message.

Dr. Oz referred to me as the 40-year-old New Mexican from Roswell. I made a random phone call to him some twenty years ago, with no expectation that I would ever become a patient of his. He seemed to be intrigued not only by my plight, but also by the opportunity for his team at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital to assist him. They were testing their robotic surgical equipment at the time, and that technology sounded like a perfect match for my situation, if, and it seemed a big if, we could just wait a little longer. We needed medical advancements to catch up with what was happening in my heart.

When I was faced with a difficult decision regarding my healthcare, Dr. Oz came to me as a gift from heaven.  He appeared to be intrigued by my personal story and was glad that his medical team could play a significant part in My Heart Story.

INTRODUCTION

As I share what has become known as My Heart Story, I am hopeful each person reading this will glean the most important aspect of this adventure: how God is constantly moving in our lives. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, He is always moving in every aspect of our daily lives, big or small. To see Him move, we can simply use our Faith, our Hope, and our Love to become more aware of our surroundings and circumstances. We can then expect Him to move and be grateful as He does.

I hope that you can settle back and release any pre-determined judgments you may have about any medical specifics or my faith-based conclusions and simply enjoy My Heart Story. It is the truth as I experienced it, and I am grateful to share it with you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

It was 5:15 p.m. when my cell phone rang. I might not have picked up, but I could see it was my cardiologist friend, Mike, calling, so I answered and heard, Jeff, I need to see you and Cindy in my office right away.

When your cardiologist tells you he needs to see you and your wife immediately, it tends to get your attention. Mike and I had been friends for a long time, and I wasn’t sure what was happening.

I chuckled and asked, "Why does Cindy need to be there? She doesn’t even