When the brain works well, all of the lights twinkle brilliantly, and it’s adaptable enough that, often, even if one bulb goes out, the rest will still shine on. “The mind is like a circuit of Christmas tree lights. She was able to clearly explain complicated medical issues and make them entertaining (although she did go into too much detail at times): I don’t want to say what exactly was wrong with her, as that question accounts for a lot of the suspense in the story, but I will say that her diagnosis was fascinating for me, especially as she was only the 217th person in the world to be diagnosed with the illness since its discovery in 2007.Īs I was reading, I became more and more astounded that someone who had been where she had could then, within a few years, have the mental sharpness and emotional strength to put together such a well-written and impeccably researched book. Susannah was certainly headed in that direction had her doctors not persevered and contacted the correct experts in the field. The other major issue that made an impression on me was how many people there must be out there that have some sort of brain disorder and are incorrectly diagnosed as mentally ill. And, that you might need to cross paths with the one doctor in the world who is familiar with your rare illness to get your life-saving treatment. Brain on Fire is a harrowing reminder that it’s not that simple…that there are so many things that the experts don’t yet understand. I think we get lulled into a sense of security that, when we get sick, we go to the doctor, he/she diagnoses us, and we get treatment. This book, while absolutely having the potential to turn me into a hypochondriac, was a wake-up call for me that, as miracle-working as many doctors are, they don’t have all the answers all the time. After weeks of doctors haphazardly diagnosing her with all kinds of things (alcohol withdrawal was my favorite), she ended up at the renowned NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center for a month while the experts there struggled to figure out what was wrong with her. Susannah’s first symptoms were flu-like (true of 70% of patients with her illness), which then spiraled into numbness, seizures, hallucinations, paranoia, memory loss, loss of motor skills, and catatonia. The story eventually grew into this book.īrain on Fire is a fascinating medical mystery. I turned to the blog’s Facebook page for suggestions and, when Brain on Fire was mentioned (thank you, Courtenay Palmer!), I remember having read Cahalan’s abbreviated version of her story in the New York Post (my favorite newspaper!). This month is my turn to host our book club in Larchmont and, consequently, I got to choose the book. The true story of 26 year old New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan’s unexplained “descent into madness” and her subsequent struggle to recover her identity. The Ultimate List of Family Drama Books.16 Character-Driven Novels I Couldn’t Put Down.Books That Would Make Great Gifts for Moms.Book Club Recommendations That Are Great for Summer.Best Books of 2012 / Holiday Gift Guide.Best Books of 2013 / Holiday Gift Guide.It takes nearly a dozen of the finest doctors and around $1 million in medical expenses at New York University's Langone Medical Center to diagnose and treat Cahalan's rare disease, which isn't revealed until after a plethora of tests, a series of incorrect diagnoses and a gruesome four-hour brain biopsy. "The future didn't matter - he cared only about being there for me as long as I needed him. "I'm told that I would visibly relax when he arrived in the room carrying a leather briefcase that was often filled with Lost DVDs and nature documentaries for us to watch together," she writes. One of the most moving scenes takes place when Cahalan's boyfriend, Stephen, shows his solidarity. There's suspense, tension, roadblocks, many twists and turns that move the reader along. That part of Cahalan's gripping story, which is reconstructed from hundreds of interviews with doctors, nurses, friends and family as well as medical records, video footage, her parents' notes and her own, is more of a medical drama than a memoir. Chapters at the end, mostly containing details of her recovery and her thoughts at the time, could have been shortened or even omitted, since they don't pack the same punch as the first three-quarters of the book. The subtitle of the book is My Month of Madness however, the sickness really spans seven, and parts of the book make it feel like more.
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