Life to the Years

A cardiologist and his patient tell a true story of surviving and thriving, in a book both informational and inspirational.

After Michael Ranville’s emergency treatment, his cardiologist told him: Given the nature and severity of your heart attack, you should no longer be with us. Statistically, you are dead.

Now, the doctor and patient unite to present a unique story for the benefit of heart patients—or anyone who has a heart. A generation ago, heart patients rarely defied the statistical category that dictated a sedentary existence and an abbreviated life. But this is the tale of one patient who didn’t die. He continued to live, refused to take up membership in that statistical category. Under the thirty-year care of Dr. Michael James and a forward-leaning cardiac community, Michael Ranville and a host of other determined heart patients created a new statistical category.

Life to the Years is also the lively, anecdote-laden story of a tenacious and resourceful cardiologist who helped Ranville seize control of life after heart disease. The authors illustrate the development of life-saving technology with fascinating stories that underscore the human element that still drives medicine. Life to the Years does not shy from the controversial, from the uncomfortable. A confrontation with mortality is the inevitable companion of heart disease. For the authors, the significance of dignity when faced with death—for both family and patient—is far from a theoretical discussion. This is a memoir that will both enlighten and encourage, and offer a behind-the-scenes look at a successful doctor-patient relationship.