“Follow Your Heart – My Life Living With an Incurable Disease”: A Book Review

“Follow Your Heart (마음이 흐르는 데로)” is an autobiographical novel written by Na Young Ji published on November 11, 2020. She is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Kennedy Krieger Institute Programs, as well as assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at John Hopkins University School of Medicine. With her studious expertise in psychiatry, she is a passionate and diligent clinician who strives to medicate young children suffering from developmental disabilities. 

Although being formerly published in Korean, “Follow Your Heart” is a book that deserves to be translated and dispensed around the world. Na Young Ji applies her own anecdotal experiences regarding her demanding journey of recovering from an incurable disease to convey poignant messages pertinent to the importance of choice, adaption, and family. 

 

Summary 

One day, Young Ji experiences an irrational spasm and an incessant throbbing on her muscles. As a medical clinician, she suspects several different causes for such symptoms.  

Over the course of a couple weeks, she encounters similar sensations in her muscles, an irrational coldness, dizziness, hypersensitivity, and photosensitivity. Her symptoms drastically decline and her ailment doesn’t seem to be getting any better. 

During a consultation with a doctor, her results come back normal with no significant abnormalities. No one can diagnose her illness with certainty, and many start suspecting that depression provoked by her occupied work life may be conducive to such symptoms.  

After almost enduring six afflictive months of lonely suffering, she comes across an inspiring Facebook post from John Hopkins and immediately visits the corresponding cardiac care unit. Due to her sporadic pulses, the cardiologist diagnoses her with ‘postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome’ or ‘PoTS”. She later discovers that PoTS is an incurable disease.  

Opinion 

The author utilizes a myriad of disparate tones throughout her novel to meticulously reflect her erratic and temperamental journey to recovery. Although a fair amount of her passages provoke unhappy and dismal connotations, the author always remembers to shine a light on the idea of faith and dependence.   

The author’s technique of establishing an intimate and amicable relationship with readers is one unique component that makes this book a power rookie. Not only does “Follow Your Heart” establish the importance of perseverance during difficult times, but it also helps to portray the significant values of life.   

The chronological structuring of the book defines the drastic changes in her attitude towards her illness and develops the plot in a more natural and free-flowing manner. The sequential arrangement of events helps readers to recognize the author’s developmental growth – both as a medical professional, and as a human being.   

This book may just be the perfect read amid the treacherous COVID19 pandemic, as it commiserates with those that are living through harsh conditions. Her articulate word choices and skillful use of implied metaphor aid to further convey the fundamental purpose of her novel.

Na Young Ji’s evocative and vivid writing style and frequent appliance of visual and olfactory imagery help to express notions regarding the beauty of life and the tenacity of human kind when having to overcome dire situations.

The author continuously retrieves back the idea of how such conditions have molded her into a better version of herself. Overall, I highly recommend all readers of this review to read this book. “Follow Your Heart” is an uplifting and tear-jerking autobiography, written from a candid and affirmative viewpoint that deserves your recognition!