About the Author
Risa Kirschner
Risa Kirschner is an author, lecturer, attorney, and real estate broker. She developed heart failure at age twenty-nine, leading to four major cardiac surgeries at the University of Michigan. Once she recovered, she became an advocate for Patient and Family Centered Care, and she served on the executive committee of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center at the university. After speaking widely to adults about her ordeal as a young mother and cardiac patient, and she is excited to present this new perspective based on the real experiences of her then two-year-old daughter. She lives in Farmington Hills, Michigan with her husband and children.
Risa has published aspects of her story in chapters of several books for an adult audience:
In Inspired to Change: Improving Patient Care One Story at a Time, edited by Linda Laren, Risa describes how a hospital can become a sacred space for healing.
In Heart 2 Heart: Stories from Patients with Left Ventricular Assist Devices, edited by Ruth Halben, Risa discusses her experience with an LVAD.
