Your Author had an Open Heart Surgery at UCLA to repair a defective heart valve and the blood veins nearby. A local cardiovascular MD recommended I have the surgery and to have the operation performed by experts at UCLA in Los Angeles. I called UCLA to talk to a surgeon who had done the surgery before. This operation was performed by a Professor-Surgeon who had done a number of similar heart operations. I explained my problem to him and he studied my records from my home town. He agreed I needed an operation and promptly set it up in two weeks. Since it was late December 1013, I would be in the UCLA hospital during Christmas 2013. I accepted the date and gave it to my wife for planning our schedule. In the years before the operation I had been walking four miles a day along a wilderness path adjacent to the river in Lompoc, CA. I was nervous about the operation and I was about to cancel the surgery when some four days before the scheduled date I lost my energy and was unable to perform the daily 4 mile walk. I could barely walk around the block. So I decided to continue with the surgery appointment. I'm glad I did because I feel much better now. Four months after the surgery I was able to walk four miles along the River Path with the aid of a deluxe walker complete with hand brakes and a seat for rest-stops during the four mile walk.