Denise Lull

Denise spent years running two bakeries before heart failure forced her to sell the business and step back from work. After her own diagnosis, she made a decision to take it seriously.

Denise completed a 10-week cardiac rehabilitation program, where she rebuilt her strength and learned to manage the delicate balance heart failure requires: enough hydration, but not too much, paired with a diet built around fruits, vegetables, and beans. Eat Well has made that easier to sustain. Denise does her shopping through grocery delivery, where her card automatically covers the fresh produce, canned beans, and Mediterranean-style ingredients she cooks with most.

Denise believes produce prescriptions belong alongside cardiac rehab as a standard, covered part of heart care — a way to encourage the kind of mindfulness that's helped her stay well. Her husband, a disabled Marine, has received VA-provided meals loaded with sodium — an experience that's made Denise a vocal advocate for expanding programs like Eat Well to veterans and other underserved patients.

"You have to participate in your care. You don't let them forget it."