Life to the Years: Living A Robust Life After Heart Disease

“Given the nature and severity of your heart attack, you should no longer be with us. Statistically, you are dead.”
- Dr. Michael James to Michael Ranville

A generation ago, heart patients rarely defied the statistical category that dictated a sedentary existence and an abbreviated life. But one patient didn’t die. He continued to live, refused to take up membership in that statistical category.

Under the 30-year care of Dr. Michael James and a forward-leaning cardiac community, Mike Ranville and a host of other determined heart patients created a new statistical category. A robust re-entry into life after heart disease is but one of many compelling topics examined by the insightful doctor-patient team in Life to the Years.

Life to the Years is the story of a tenacious and resourceful cardiologist and his resolute patient. It is a lively, anecdote-laden account of seizing control of life after heart disease - long the nation’s number one killer. 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.

Michael James, D.O., FACC, has been a practicing cardiologist for nearly fifty years. He is a Senior Partner at the Thoracic Cardiovascular Institute, and has served as a Clinical Professor on the faculty at Michigan State University since 1982. Michael James resides in Okemos, Michigan, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan.

Michael Ranville worked in the political arena for more than 35 years, as a researcher, speechwriter and lobbyist. He is the author of numerous magazine articles on such diverse topics as politics, sports, and humor. Michael resides in Charlotte, Michigan, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan