Data Driven Health: How I Hacked My Health, Fixed Chronic Illnesses, and Survived Emergency Surgery with DIY Open Source Tools

For years, I lived with chronic gut issues, brain fog, joint pain, and a misfiring heart. None of it made sense-especially not to the doctors. Test after test came back "normal." Yet I felt like things were falling apart.

And in 2016 they finally did.

That's when my background in software development kicked in. After three decades spent debugging systems, I turned those skills inward. If the body is a system, then maybe I could trace the errors, map the patterns, and find the root cause.

Data Driven Health is the true story of how I became my own system analyst. Using open-source tools, a DIY EKG monitor, and a custom-built health journaling platform, I uncovered the real drivers behind my chronic illnesses-and reversed them.

By correlating everything from diet and sleep to stress and biomarkers, I realized the "healthy lifestyle" I'd been following was making me sicker. In 2016, I built the OpenHolter and a personalized nutrition framework. It restored my health.

In 2025, it saved my life.

After a ruptured appendix and emergency intestinal surgery, my recovery shocked doctors: no complications, rapid healing, and near-perfect labs. My secret? Years of self-tracking, metabolic optimization, and data-informed nutrition.

If you're an engineer, developer, maker-or just someone who's tired of cookie-cutter health advice-this book is your invitation to take back control.