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Being Empowered for a Healthy Heart: A Personal Guide to Taking Control of Your Health While Living with Chronic Conditions
Living with a chronic illness can feel like a constant battle.Conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, COPD, and depression not only require vigilant management, but they can negatively affect your day-to-day functioning and deprive you of the quality of life you deserve.
This book is designed to equip you with the tools you need to overcome the symptoms of pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, anxiety, and stress while effectively managing and reversing the diseases that cause them. By encouraging you to create personal healthy living goals and then providing valuable tools to help you achieve them, this guide will give you the confidence you need to take control of your health.
Be inspired and revitalized as Dr. Chi takes you on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment through a combination of essential health information and original poetry
This book is designed to equip you with the tools you need to overcome the symptoms of pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, anxiety, and stress while effectively managing and reversing the diseases that cause them. By encouraging you to create personal healthy living goals and then providing valuable tools to help you achieve them, this guide will give you the confidence you need to take control of your health.
Be inspired and revitalized as Dr. Chi takes you on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment through a combination of essential health information and original poetry
- GenresNonfiction
358 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2021
About the author
Phoebe Chi, MD, MPH
3 books10 followersPhoebe Chi, MD, MPH is a physician, clinical educator, and writer whose humanitarian efforts through the years have spanned from the regions of Central America to that of sub-Saharan Africa. She attended college at the University of Texas and subsequently received her medical training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and her public health and global health degrees from the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
With a focus on health promotion and disease prevention and management, Dr. Chi has developed chronic disease management programs for health systems across the nation aimed at reducing hospitalizations and enhancing the quality of life of those living with chronic conditions. Her acclaimed blog, PhoebeMD.com, is known for bringing together the realms of science and health with that of poetry and the arts, with the purpose of educating, inspiring, and empowering. She is the founder of Pendants for a Cause, a nonprofit organization that creates handcrafted jewelry for the purpose of raising funds to fight illness, provide care, and bring awareness to medically vulnerable populations all around the world.
With a focus on health promotion and disease prevention and management, Dr. Chi has developed chronic disease management programs for health systems across the nation aimed at reducing hospitalizations and enhancing the quality of life of those living with chronic conditions. Her acclaimed blog, PhoebeMD.com, is known for bringing together the realms of science and health with that of poetry and the arts, with the purpose of educating, inspiring, and empowering. She is the founder of Pendants for a Cause, a nonprofit organization that creates handcrafted jewelry for the purpose of raising funds to fight illness, provide care, and bring awareness to medically vulnerable populations all around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 19, 2020
Being Empowered for a Healthy Heart:
A personal guide to taking control of your health while living with chronic conditions
This book is penned from the mainstream medical approach, but is very comprehensive and useful And a delight to read!
The author had me from the premise:
“I saw the beauty with his human compassion, the splendor that is human courage, and the preciousness that is the human soul.”
I knew this was an evolved open-hearted person. And I confess I find that to be rather rare in the medical profession. I am a retired Nutritionist and Homeopath, and always practiced from a complementary standpoint. By that I mean I employed and recommended alternative remedies such as homeopathic remedies, holistic lifestyle changes, herbs and nutrients. But I saw this as a complement to mainstream medicine rather than a complete alternative.
Mainstream medicine for me has gone wildly over the top into depending on drugs to be the hammer they hope will solve everything. Yes, it is true that acute conditions and emergency room situations are well-handled by our mainstream medical system, as those areas are so focused on high-tech solutions that balance and restoring life functions. But as for chronic issues like asthma, hypertension, eczema, fibromyalgia, arthritis, etc, mainstream medicine is hopelessly out of touch and unable to address them adequately, if at all.
As a practitioner I sent people to mainstream medicine for diagnostics, to rule out all kinds of different conditions, and perhaps pinpoint the problem. But then I addressed it in an alternate fashion with homeopathics, herbs and nutrients. Hence the complementary rather than alternative approach.
Having said all that, Dr. Chi does not make any foray into alternative or complementary medical approaches, but she is very open to and recommends meditation, stress reduction techniques, healthy eating, exercise, mindfulness, and she knows the power of endorphins as pain relief.
The book is beautifully laid out and artistically formatted, easy to read, and warm and lyrical in places. She has made great use of formatting, text boxes, shading, changes of layout within the page, all to keep you interested. This is not a book full of endless paragraphs of text to drift you off to sleep!
I appreciated the many tables throughout the book that at one glance gives you the answers you may need. Examples: the blood pressure table on page 86 is a printout for the refrigerator! Same goes for the blood sugar table on page 113. And this is my favorite: the table that fills page 24-26 table, of heart medications, what they are for and the side effects to watch for. Just excellent! And at the end of the book are many useful pages of logs and health trackers which can be printed out, to help to keep you on track.
She tackles more than heart disease, diving into suggestions for many other chronic issues, such as lung disease, chronic pain, stress management, depression, urinary incontinence, and diabetes.
I love the poems at the beginning of each chapter- these set a mood of lyrical beauty. This doctor loves life, loves creativity, loves people!
This is a beautiful and useful book. Combined with the power of alternative approaches, it is invaluable.
A personal guide to taking control of your health while living with chronic conditions
This book is penned from the mainstream medical approach, but is very comprehensive and useful And a delight to read!
The author had me from the premise:
“I saw the beauty with his human compassion, the splendor that is human courage, and the preciousness that is the human soul.”
I knew this was an evolved open-hearted person. And I confess I find that to be rather rare in the medical profession. I am a retired Nutritionist and Homeopath, and always practiced from a complementary standpoint. By that I mean I employed and recommended alternative remedies such as homeopathic remedies, holistic lifestyle changes, herbs and nutrients. But I saw this as a complement to mainstream medicine rather than a complete alternative.
Mainstream medicine for me has gone wildly over the top into depending on drugs to be the hammer they hope will solve everything. Yes, it is true that acute conditions and emergency room situations are well-handled by our mainstream medical system, as those areas are so focused on high-tech solutions that balance and restoring life functions. But as for chronic issues like asthma, hypertension, eczema, fibromyalgia, arthritis, etc, mainstream medicine is hopelessly out of touch and unable to address them adequately, if at all.
As a practitioner I sent people to mainstream medicine for diagnostics, to rule out all kinds of different conditions, and perhaps pinpoint the problem. But then I addressed it in an alternate fashion with homeopathics, herbs and nutrients. Hence the complementary rather than alternative approach.
Having said all that, Dr. Chi does not make any foray into alternative or complementary medical approaches, but she is very open to and recommends meditation, stress reduction techniques, healthy eating, exercise, mindfulness, and she knows the power of endorphins as pain relief.
The book is beautifully laid out and artistically formatted, easy to read, and warm and lyrical in places. She has made great use of formatting, text boxes, shading, changes of layout within the page, all to keep you interested. This is not a book full of endless paragraphs of text to drift you off to sleep!
I appreciated the many tables throughout the book that at one glance gives you the answers you may need. Examples: the blood pressure table on page 86 is a printout for the refrigerator! Same goes for the blood sugar table on page 113. And this is my favorite: the table that fills page 24-26 table, of heart medications, what they are for and the side effects to watch for. Just excellent! And at the end of the book are many useful pages of logs and health trackers which can be printed out, to help to keep you on track.
She tackles more than heart disease, diving into suggestions for many other chronic issues, such as lung disease, chronic pain, stress management, depression, urinary incontinence, and diabetes.
I love the poems at the beginning of each chapter- these set a mood of lyrical beauty. This doctor loves life, loves creativity, loves people!
This is a beautiful and useful book. Combined with the power of alternative approaches, it is invaluable.
June 29, 2022
Being Empowered for a Healthy Heart is a very informative book for those seeking support in dealing with chronic illness. It is written to be easily understood. As a registered nurse, I appreciate that the recommendations are evidence-based medicine. It covers various health problems with constructive, encouraging suggestions, and the author has prepared methods to help you achieve them.
I will recommend this book to my adult patients and keep it on my shelf as a reference book to support patient education. Seeing a doctor relate to clients on a compassionate level such as this is encouraging.
Especially during and after the Covid crisis, many should benefit from understanding this material.
The author begins her chapters delicately with a touching poem. This excerpt, “Like other muscles in the body, the heart has a remarkable ability to strengthen itself; therefore, there are ways that you can make your heart stronger…” is an example of empowerment. This book is a must-read for those seeking support; I highly recommend it.
This is the review I published on Amazon after purchase.
I will recommend this book to my adult patients and keep it on my shelf as a reference book to support patient education. Seeing a doctor relate to clients on a compassionate level such as this is encouraging.
Especially during and after the Covid crisis, many should benefit from understanding this material.
The author begins her chapters delicately with a touching poem. This excerpt, “Like other muscles in the body, the heart has a remarkable ability to strengthen itself; therefore, there are ways that you can make your heart stronger…” is an example of empowerment. This book is a must-read for those seeking support; I highly recommend it.
This is the review I published on Amazon after purchase.
January 2, 2023
FROM AMAZON: As an avid reader of certain genres, one of my NY resolutions was to expand the types of genres I read and finding useful books. This fulfills both! While I don’t have chronic conditions like heart disease, I do struggle with some mental illnesses, and it is more pertinent than ever for me to take control of my health (as it inevitably affects how I feel). I really appreciate how modern health books acknowledge that mental illnesses are chronic conditions and provide well-researched information that anyone, regardless of “health knowledge” can use to transform their life (and, in this case, heart health). It’s not easy feat to take on, and Dr. Chi makes sure that every reader (even myself, who admittedly knows little to nothing about heart health) can find something useful: exercises like diaphragmatic breathing, ways to manage chronic conditions, health trackers, and more. It’s a way more interactive book than I thought going in and that was a big plus for me. The poems at the beginning were also empowering, making a book rooted in science have an open and self-help feel. Needless to say, I’m inspired.
February 21, 2020
Dr. Chi's book is an excellent resource for anyone dealing with a chronic health condition. It covers a wide variety of topics including managing medications, healthy eating, physical activity and exercise, stress management, insomnia, incontinence, intimacy, and staying motivated. It is very well organized and easy to read, understand, and apply. I appreciate the fact that Dr. Chi encourages her readers to work with their health care professionals to manage their individual symptoms and conditions. She also recommends useful online resources to help readers avoid false or misleading websites and includes many supplementary materials to help patients track their health and establish goals. Dr. Chi is clearly committed to empowering her readers to live happier, healthier lives!
April 3, 2024
Empowering Health Guide
This is a guide that combines scientific insights with practical tools for managing various health conditions. The author's unique approach of blending health advice with original poetry adds a personal touch, making the journey towards better health more relatable and less intimidating.
The book provides a holistic approach to improving well-being, offering advice on diet, exercise, and stress management. The inclusion of health trackers and logs is a helpful feature for those looking to monitor their progress and stay motivated.
Overall, this book is a supportive guide for those looking to take control of their health with a nice personal twist of the poetry
This is a guide that combines scientific insights with practical tools for managing various health conditions. The author's unique approach of blending health advice with original poetry adds a personal touch, making the journey towards better health more relatable and less intimidating.
The book provides a holistic approach to improving well-being, offering advice on diet, exercise, and stress management. The inclusion of health trackers and logs is a helpful feature for those looking to monitor their progress and stay motivated.
Overall, this book is a supportive guide for those looking to take control of their health with a nice personal twist of the poetry
August 10, 2023
Good Book for a General Overview on Several Conditions
Both the positive and negative points about this book are that it covers a variety of topics. So if you are looking to get a general overview of all sorts of issues, ranging from heart disease to quitting smoking to diabetes to chronic pain, this is a really good place to start. If you want to get in depth, though, find a book that really delves into one specific problem.
I liked the exercises best, some of which I've already started incorporating into my exercise program. I liked the poetry least. I don't like poetry anyway, and it didn't seem to fit in this book. Inspirational quotes would've been more apropos.
Both the positive and negative points about this book are that it covers a variety of topics. So if you are looking to get a general overview of all sorts of issues, ranging from heart disease to quitting smoking to diabetes to chronic pain, this is a really good place to start. If you want to get in depth, though, find a book that really delves into one specific problem.
I liked the exercises best, some of which I've already started incorporating into my exercise program. I liked the poetry least. I don't like poetry anyway, and it didn't seem to fit in this book. Inspirational quotes would've been more apropos.
July 9, 2021
Great advice and recommendations for those suffering from diabetes and heart conditions, and also such ailments as chronic lung disease, stress, depression, and insomnia. A very meticulous, detailed collection of useful exercises, relaxation techniques and dietary controls which should really help. Each chapter is headed by a poem, wispily sentimental both in style and content, and exuding optimism. The book is well set out, with a mass of off-the-shelf forms/tables to fill in and keep a record of states of being and mind, improvements, and execution of helpful tasks. Really useful.
April 27, 2023
Very thorough coverage of a variety of complex health issues.
Not just about heart health, this detailed book covers other chronic illnesses many of us my suffer from, including angina, sleep apnea, and even heartburn. Written in a professional but very accessible way, I loved that there were 'journal' style entry sections for every chapter to log your personal health journey. I wasn't sure about the poems at the beginning of each chapter, but they were easy to skip to get to the meat. Super-useful purchase if you, like me, live with a heart condition.
Not just about heart health, this detailed book covers other chronic illnesses many of us my suffer from, including angina, sleep apnea, and even heartburn. Written in a professional but very accessible way, I loved that there were 'journal' style entry sections for every chapter to log your personal health journey. I wasn't sure about the poems at the beginning of each chapter, but they were easy to skip to get to the meat. Super-useful purchase if you, like me, live with a heart condition.
August 10, 2023
incredibly Thorough
From the moment I opened this book, I thought it was very helpful and beautifully arranged. It is truly an interactive guide to healthcare and treatment filled with illustrations, journals and daily tasks. It is full of depth and breadth from taking on portion control with illustrations to intimacy issues and chronic health. Exercise photos, journal samples of food and meds, daily reminders and even a step by step chart to read the book itself. One of the most organized and practical guides I have ever seen and used. Bought copies for multiple people!
From the moment I opened this book, I thought it was very helpful and beautifully arranged. It is truly an interactive guide to healthcare and treatment filled with illustrations, journals and daily tasks. It is full of depth and breadth from taking on portion control with illustrations to intimacy issues and chronic health. Exercise photos, journal samples of food and meds, daily reminders and even a step by step chart to read the book itself. One of the most organized and practical guides I have ever seen and used. Bought copies for multiple people!
March 21, 2023
Excellent compilation of important chronic diseases and useful tools
I liked the ideas of this book as it addresses the key health issues and provides a very useful guide to a common reader. It covers impirtant aspects of prevention and management of the most prevalent chronic diseases. Excellent activities and exercises at the end, and very nice templates at the end of the book to remember important things such as medicatiom times. Great idea to synthesise such information.
I liked the ideas of this book as it addresses the key health issues and provides a very useful guide to a common reader. It covers impirtant aspects of prevention and management of the most prevalent chronic diseases. Excellent activities and exercises at the end, and very nice templates at the end of the book to remember important things such as medicatiom times. Great idea to synthesise such information.
April 30, 2023
Great Guide
Packed full of good information. Seems geared toward the elderly population. Probably because that is the majority of the authors patients which makes sense.
I think people with chronic conditions can get discouraged and this is a good guide to take control and get your power back.
Packed full of good information. Seems geared toward the elderly population. Probably because that is the majority of the authors patients which makes sense.
I think people with chronic conditions can get discouraged and this is a good guide to take control and get your power back.
May 2, 2019
Wow. I wish I knew about this book sooner. Very helpful and easy to read. I have heart disease and diabetes and I would say I learned more from this book than all my visits to the doctors. If you're thinking about reading it--just do it!
May 28, 2021
The Ultimate Healthy Heart Checklist
This book is well organized, easy to read, and it is very empowering. This is a book you want to have on hand if you are dealing with any significant heart issues.
This book is well organized, easy to read, and it is very empowering. This is a book you want to have on hand if you are dealing with any significant heart issues.
July 12, 2024
Good resource
This went more indepth on several auxiliary conditions/symptoms than I expected. The chapters on managing depression and insomnia were particularly useful to me as they will be too many others. Clear, straightforward language. It's a good reference book to keep.
This went more indepth on several auxiliary conditions/symptoms than I expected. The chapters on managing depression and insomnia were particularly useful to me as they will be too many others. Clear, straightforward language. It's a good reference book to keep.
April 5, 2019
Definitely adding this to my to-read list!
April 11, 2019
Incredibly helpful book for those suffering from health problems.
May 7, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
May 14, 2019
Currently reading and have learned a lot about my health and chronic conditions. Also beautiful poetry. Would recommend.
May 19, 2021
Big book but backed by science, facts and stories.
March 31, 2019
I got this book off amazon and was so glad I did. I have several health issues and was always frustrated with them. Reading this actually helped me feel more confident and positive toward my health, and also, very much empowered. There is SO much good information in this book, but it’s written in such a conversational style that I really felt like the author was my personal doctor talking to me. There is also poetry in this book, which was such a treat and pleasant surprise. So everyone....READ THIS BOOK! You won’t regret it.
April 13, 2019
Received this book as part of a health program at my heart clinic. I am so glad I read it and so thankful that there’s a book like this out there. It’s not only informative but also an enjoyable read, as Dr. Chi has shown herself to also be a talented poet. The poems included in this book are simply beautiful. This book is like chicken soup for the soul AND body!
May 2, 2019
Great book! Very helpful and enjoyable to read.
May 5, 2019
Incredibly helpful information. Beautiful poetry.
May 7, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
May 14, 2019
Currently reading and have learned a lot about my health and chronic conditions. Also beautiful poetry. Would recommend.
March 31, 2019
I have heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. This book was super helpful in helping me get them under control. My doctor recommended this, and I’m glad he did. I would recommend anyone with chronic conditions to read it as well.
April 1, 2019
My cardiologist recommended this book to me. I really found it helpful, as I have several of the conditions discussed in there. Easy to read, but chock full of important health information.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews