Work The Problem

When Robert Cummer was told he needed open-heart surgery, he did what he'd always done-asked questions, gathered data, and tried to stay in control. Then reality showed up and reminded him that the body doesn't negotiate, recovery doesn't follow a tidy timeline, and life keeps coming whether you're ready or not.

Work the Problem is a candid memoir told with blunt honesty, dry humor, and the hard-earned perspective that comes from being knocked flat and getting back up anyway. Cummer doesn't write as a doctor or a guru. He writes as a guy living through it-fear, uncertainty, pain, gratitude, setbacks, and the surreal moments that don't make it into the brochure. The "three-ring circus" isn't a metaphor he picked for style; it's how the experience felt, and how life often feels afterward.

This book isn't a checklist, a pep talk, or medical instruction. It's a personal account of a cardiac crisis and the messy return to normal-where "normal" has changed, and so have you. If you've faced a major health event, supported someone who has, or wondered what resilience actually looks like when the stakes are real, you'll recognize yourself in these pages.