Did Barbara need an Open Heart? Upon learning of Barbara's upcoming open-heart surgery, Karen told her it was the quickest way to an open heart. This was not the journey that Barbara would have chosen, but it was now her journey. The surgery itself was just one part of Barbara's journey through a world of health and medical issues. A journey that started long before her surgery and continues as she learns how to honor her spiritually opening heart. Throughout her journey, she must balance modern medicine and its technology with what she knows in her heart. Balancing what she knows about her own body versus the one-size-fits-all medical world. Barbara's story is for anyone facing or recovering from open-heart surgery and for the loved ones who care for them. Barbara's journey did not start with her surgery, but it did take a turn. In her book she shares how open-heart surgery saved her life and led her to a new awareness of surviving and thriving in life.