She wasn't supposed to live. Her mother heard those words but they shaped the daughter's life. The extent of her heart problem was undiagnosed until she was an adult and after her lifelong dream of attending the United States Naval Academy was shattered. She was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart disease. Ebstein's Anomaly. Congenital heart disease is the number one birth defect in the United States. Living with one of the over 30 kinds of congenital heart diseases is tough. Feeling alone with congenital heart disease is even tougher.

This is one woman's story about thriving,...