The Heart Behind Do My Heart Good
Do My Heart Good is a memoir about far more than medicine, music, or history. It is also about the metaphysical heart — the unseen center of a human being where compassion, dignity, courage, faith, resilience, and hope reside.

As a cardiologist, I spent years treating the physical heart. I learned its rhythms, weaknesses, and extraordinary strength. But during my own life journey — from poverty and segregation in Southwest Louisiana to country music stages and the halls of medicine — I came to understand that there is another heart equally important: the inner heart that determines who we become.  Life tests that heart.

Segregation could have produced bitterness. Rejection could have produced anger. Obstacles could have produced surrender. Yet throughout the journey, I tried to preserve something essential within myself — empathy, humility, perseverance, and belief in the humanity of others. My goal was not merely to succeed, but to do so without losing the goodness of heart that shaped me.

In that sense, Do My Heart Good carries a double meaning. It reflects both the science of the human heart and the condition of the human spirit. The memoir asks a deeper question: What ultimately makes one life meaningful? Achievement alone is not enough. Titles are not enough. Fame is not enough. What matters most may be whether life enlarges or diminishes the heart within us.

The story is therefore not simply about becoming a physician or an entertainer. It is about protecting one's humanity while moving through a complicated America and an often difficult world. It is about trying to leave doors open for others, to represent people with dignity, and to prove that adversity does not have to harden the soul.

In the end, the greatest accomplishment may not be what we achieve, but what kind of heart we carry through the journey.