Books on Health
The New Health
Insurance Solution: How to Get Cheaper, Better Coverage Without a
Traditional Employer Plan by Paul Zane Pilzer
Making a Map: From Health to Heart Disease
and Back Again
My Medical Assistant by
Donna McCaslin
Drugs for Less: The
Complete Guide to Free and Discounted Prescription Drugs by Michael
P. Cecil, M.D.
Making a Map: From Health to Heart Disease
and Back Again by Julie Kohlhaas, Review by Jaimie Hall
Hiker, backpacker, and RVer, Julie Kohlhaas got a lot more exercise
than most of us do. She was a long-time vegetarian, not overweight and her
cholesterol was low. And she ignored the occasional tightness in her chest
and the fact that heart disease ran in her family. After all, it is a
man’s disease. Right?
As Julie found out, this is wrong. Heart disease is the leading killer
of women, more so than cancer. Julie was fortunate she did not wait for a
heart attack, which could have happened out in the wilderness she and her
husband, Kel, loved to hike. Her book, Making a Map, starts with
descriptions and journal entries about her lifestyle and daily activities
as they travel in their RV and how she ignored early symptoms of her
serious problem.
When she does seek medical attention, the physician orders Julie flown
by helicopter to Phoenix where she has a coronary triple bypass. We then
follow Julie through her hospitalization and recovery. Recovery turns out
to have bumps of its own. Finding the correct medication and dosage is a
challenge. Damage to her diaphragm is frustrating. While Julie has
excellent care givers, supportive family and husband, and is an active
participant in her own health, at times she feels out of control.
Since one out of two women will have serious heart trouble in their
lives, Julie has indeed made a map that all women should read. Women often
have entirely different symptoms than tightness in the chest that indicate
heart problems. These symptoms should not be ignored. Recovery is not
instant and requires working with health care professionals to
individualize your treatment. Serious illness and surgery strains
relationships and can affect one’s own mental health. While you may not
ever be quite the same, you can make a difference in how much function you
recover.
Reading Making a Map will alert you to some of the things you
should know if you or a family member have to deal with heart disease.
Included are health recommendations and recommended readings. Acorn
Publishing ISBN 0-9710988-9-1. 250 pages.
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