Read for: FABClub Monthly Memoir – February 2014
Rating: 4/5
Cahalan, a journalist, documents her experience with a rare medical condition that caused a variety of terrifying symptoms including headaches, numbness on the left side of her body, paranoia, psychosis, seizures, loss of cognitive abilities etc, all of which stumped the medical team at NYU where she was admitted after days of bizarre behavior. The story is fast paced and well written; I demolished it in a few hours. Overall I loved it, though the subject matter was, obviously, enough to give me medical nightmares. Cahalan chronicles her “month of madness” (most of which she does not remember clearly, if at all) as well as her period of recovery, and shines a light on anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis (say that 5 times fast). It’s great that she shared her story. I don’t have much more to say except that you should probably read it. Yes YOU.