Heart to Heart with Anna

This is a special episode of "Heart to Heart with Anna" featuring two heart friends who interacted with one another for seven years before meeting each other face-to-face in person. Anna Jaworski, our Host, was lucky to be invited to this special event. The following day, she went back to Katie, Texas to actually conduct a face-to-face interview with these long-time friends to share the excitement...

What is NVLD? Why do some people want to change the name of NVLD to developmental visual-spatial disorder? What difficulties do people with NVLD have?

Ever since Brandon Lane Phillips, M.D. had his first open-heart surgery when he was 2 years old, he wanted to be a pediatric cardiologist, just like the doctors who helped save him. Over the years, Brandon had multiple treatments and surgeries and...

Why would doctors choose to spend time volunteering in another country and creating a nonprofit organization to save children’s lives overseas? Dr. Tom Forsberg and Dr. Chad Hoyt are co-founders of Healing Hearts Vietnam. Dr. Forsberg is an emergency physician with Centra Health in Central Virginia.  He currently serves in four emergency departments throughout the region. Dr. Chad Hoyt specializes...

What was it like to be a parent of a baby with a critical congenital heart defect over 30 years ago? What was life like for Susan, Nick, and the rest of the family after Nick received a heart transplant? Why would an author choose to revise a book about her son's medical journey? Susan May is mom to Nick, 32, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, transposition of the great arteries, c...

Each Monday in February we've been broadcasting a special episode of "Heart to Heart with Anna" featuring different medical devices or products. Today's episode is the last of the four Medical Monday programs and features Greg Hummer, a Senior Technical Services Specialist for Abbott. Most of the Medical Monday programs were relatively short, but Mr. Hummer talked about 4 different devices! Are yo...

This is the final Heart Dad Sunday episode for Heart Month, February 2022 and it features a surprise -- instead of Frank Jaworski being the Guest Host, he is the Guest and his Heart Warrior son Alexander is the Guest Host.

 Frank Jaworski is married to Anna Jaworski. Together they had two sons – Joey and Alex Jaworski. Frank Jaworski is a certified registered nurse anesthetist or CRNA. He has wor...

Who was the first person to close holes in the heart between the upper chambers of the heart in the cath lab? What exactly is interventional cardiology and why is it important? What future devices do our Heart Warriors have to look forward to? Today’s episode is entitled “The Making of a Louisiana Legend” and our guest is Dr. Terry King. Dr. Terry King completed his training in Pediatrics and Pedi...

Welcome to Fun Fact Friday -- a special weekly podcast during Heart Month (February 2022). Each Friday we have been sharing fun facts for the congenital heart defect community. Our Guest is Frank Jaworski, CRNA -- he is a father to a 27-year-old single ventricle Heart Warrior and he's also Host Anna Jaworski's husband. In this final episode of our mini-series, Frank will answer the question, "Why...

Each Thursday we will have author Amy M. Le joining us to chat about recipes from her cookbook Snow’s Kitchen. For those of you who don’t know, Amy is the author of a trilogy of books revolving around her Vietnamese mother’s journey to the United States after the fall of Saigon. The last book in the trilogy, Snow’s Kitchen is a novella and a cookbook! All of our recipes are from this cookbook. In...

According to an article in Neuropsychobiology entitled “Exercise and Mental Health: Many Reasons to Move” ( https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/223730) Neurodegenerative diseases become more prevalent as individuals age and, therefore, represent a serious issue for the healthcare system. Since inactivity is the number one risk factor for many diseases, physical activity has become an emerging topic...

What is plastic bronchitis? What is immune deficiency and how might it be related to plastic bronchitis? More importantly, what can be done about it? Today’s Guest will answer those questions and more! Anna: Heidi Ingvaldsen is 38 years old and lives in the north of Norway with her partner Karl Stian. The couple has three children from previous relationships, Karl's sons, Nicklas, aged 17, and Tob...

Each Monday in February we're broadcasting a special episode of "Heart to Heart with Anna" featuring different medical devices or products. Today's episode is the third of four Medical Monday programs and features a gentleman commonly referred to as "The Father of Interventional Cardiology." Today we’ll be talking about a congenital heart defect known as an atrial septal defect or ASD -- more comm...

This is the 3rd of 4 episodes of Heart Dad Sunday -- a mini-series developed for Heart Month, February 2022. Heart Dad Frank Jaworski returns in this episode as the Guest Host. He interviews long-time friend, Michael Liben, about what it was like to raise a daughter with a critical congenital heart defect in Israel. Not only did Michael's daughter have double-outlet right ventricle, but she also h...

How can a heart camp, like Camp Del Corazon, enhance a Heart Warrior's life? What made one Heart Warrior decide to become a nurse and eventually to go back to Camp Del Corazon as a Camp Nurse? What is the next step for a Heart Warrior after she is too old for camp? Carrlee McGuire-Lim is a Heart Warrior who was born with Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, Coarctation, and TGA. She has had several c...

Welcome to Fun Fact Friday -- a special weekly podcast during Heart Month (February 2022). Each Friday we have been sharing fun facts for the congenital heart defect community. Our Guest is Frank Jaworski, CRNA -- he is a father to a 27-year-old single ventricle Heart Warrior and he's also Host Anna Jaworski's husband. In this episode, Frank will answer the question, "What is prostaglandin E1 and...

Each Thursday we will have author Amy M. Le joining us to chat about recipes from her cookbook Snow’s Kitchen. For those of you who don’t know, Amy is the author of a trilogy of books revolving around her Vietnamese mother’s journey to the United States after the fall of Saigon. The last book in the trilogy, Snow’s Kitchen is a novella and a cookbook! All of our recipes are from this cookbook. In...

I believe the power of friendship to enhance our feeling of well-being cannot be overrated. Friends do so much to make us feel better about ourselves, to multiply our happiness, and to divide our sorrow. It's with the help of friends that many of us develop the resiliency to tackle those difficulties we face in life. Today's Mental Health Wednesday activity is a simple one -- simply share a small...

What is Ebstein’s Anomaly? How did living with congenital heart defects influence Tori Geiger’s career choice? What does having Ebstein’s Anomaly mean for a newly married couple wanting a family? Today’s show is Resiliency: Overcoming Challenges with Ebstein’s Anomaly and our Guest is Tori Geiger. We’ll start today’s program by learning a bit about Tori in Segment 1. In the second segment, we’re g...

Each Monday in February we're broadcasting a special episode of "Heart to Heart with Anna" featuring different medical devices or products. Today's episode is conducted by Hearts Unite the Globe Medical Advisory Board Member, Roslyn Rivera, RN. Today we’ll be talking about 3-D printed hearts and our Guest is Dr. Gregory Perens. Dr. Perens has been a pediatric cardiologist at UCLA since 2006. His c...

This is the second of four special 'Heart Dad Sunday' episodes guest hosted by Frank Jaworski. Frank is Anna Jaworski's husband and together they have two children. Their youngest child was born with a single ventricle heart. Frank is also an advanced practice nurse. He is a nurse anesthetist in Temple, Texas. In this episode, Frank revisits living with HLHS with an old friend. Rob Springham is a...

What is Double Outlet Right Ventricle? What is TAPVR? How did living with congenital heart defects influence Michael McKelvey’s life growing up? What has Michael achieved in adulthood? Michael McKelvey is 30 years old and lives with a complex congenital heart defect (CHD) called double outlet right ventricle, or DORV. He works as an internet service provider technician in Pittsburgh. Growing up, l...

Each Monday in February we're broadcasting a special episode of "Heart to Heart with Anna" featuring different medical devices or products. Today's episode is conducted by Hearts Unite the Globe Medical Advisory Board Member, Roslyn Rivera, RN. Today’s topic is the Harmony™ Transcatheter Pulmonary valve and the Alterra Pre-stent and our Guest is Dr. Daniel Levi. Dr. Levi is an interventional pedia...

Welcome to Fun Fact Friday -- a special weekly podcast during Heart Month (February 2022). Each Friday we'll be sharing fun facts for the congenital heart defect community. Our Guest is Frank Jaworski, CRNA and father to a 27-year-old single ventricle Heart Warrior. He's also Host Anna Jaworski's husband. In this episode, Frank will answer the question: what arrhythmias are life-threatening? Thank...

It's Tasty Thursday! Won't you join cookbook author, Amy M. Le, and Frank and Anna Jaworski as they dish about an appetizer found in Amy M. Le's cookbook, 'Snow's Kitchen'? This week, and for every Thursday in Heart Month (February), these three friends will talk about one recipe after another found in the cookbook and modified by Frank and Anna in an attempt to make the recipe more keto-friendly....

Wouldn't it be lovely if everyone responded to one another with kindness? In today's Mental Health Wednesday, Anna talks with her Listeners about the mental health benefits of acting with kindness and she challenges her Listeners to perform an act of kindness and share what happened with Anna. This is a special podcast for Mental Health Wednesday, a short podcast being produced on Wednesdays for H...