Artist's Notebook: My Adventures With Heart Failure

Bigger, yet weaker: A picture diary of my failing heart

In 2008, after recovering from breast cancer, New York artist Vicki Behm contracted what seemed to be a bad flu. But symptoms persisted beyond the usual time. She eventually found herself in an ER, gasping for breath. Then she was diagnosed with a disease she had barely heard of.

This is Vicki's visual diary, annotated with her words, from her symptoms to her hopeful new life with a weakened heart.

Next: First came fever