Uncomfortably Numb: a memoir about the life-altering diagnosis of multiple sclerosis

Product Description

About losing one’s life as it was once imagined, and the ultimate, uneasy peace that’s achieved with the permanent uncertainty which accompanies living with a chronic illness.It begins with numbness on her left leg. Then it spreads. Even though an MRI finds a “mass” on her brainstem, it takes two more years for Meredith O’Brien to learn what is causing that numbness. Months after her 65-year-old mother dies from a fast-moving cancer, weeks after her father is hospitalized and she experiences an unexpected job change, she learns she has multiple sclerosis.Suddenly, Meredith, a married mother of three teens, has to figure out how to move forward into a life she no longer recognizes. Reimagining her life as a writer and an educator, as a mother and a spouse, she has to adjust to the restrictions MS imposes on her. It is a life, altered.

Review

“A journalist by training and a writer by nature, she fearlessly investigates, contemplates, and confronts her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis as she learns to adapt to her body’s new way of being in the world. Her frank look at what this process is like for both herself and her family will be heartening to anyone who has lived with the uncertainty of chronic illness.” — New York Times bestselling writer Andrea J. Buchanan, author of The Beginning of Everything”In Uncomfortably Numb, Meredith O’Brien writes unflinchingly about her life before and after her MS diagnosis. Detailing her treatment, her struggles to be taken seriously by doctors, and the effects of it all on her family, career and sense of self, she writes in a clear-eyed and courageous voice, bringing the reader along with her as she navigates this profound, life-altering experience.” — Sarai Walker, author of Dietland”Frank and relatable, it will speak to anyone who knows the uncertainty that chronic illness brings and the resiliency it demands.” — Maya Dusenbery, author of Doing Harm “Meredith O’Brien’s Uncomfortably Numb is a rare window into everyday life with multiple sclerosis, and how chronic illness can turn one’s very identity inside out. The illness is unpredictable: an initial diagnosis takes years to materialize, symptoms may or may not signal the progression of the disease, and treatments are imperfect. With candor, O’Brien bares her most vulnerable moments as she learns the new rules of working, parenting, and living in the present when the future is uncertain.” — Jessica Fechtor, author of Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home”A modern telling of the newly diagnosed story from a no-nonsense journalist, a gifted writer, a pragmatic New Englander. … Uncomfortably Numb is heart-breaking, it’s harrowing, and it’s heroic. What is is not is candy-coated. Refreshingly honest, unguarded, and reflective about what is, arguably the most difficult half decade in Meredith O’Brien’s colorful life.” — Trevis Gleason, author of Chef Interrupted: Discovering Life’s Second Course in Ireland with Multiple Sclerosis”O’Brien’s memoir is not only a gift to adults dealing with MS, but also for people grappling with any other sudden onset diseases and similarly ‘invisible’ conditions–and for the people who love them. … An engaging, thought-provoking, informative story, and a narrator you’ll want to know and follow.” — Lisa Romeo, author of Starting With Goodbye”A triumphant story of determination and resiliency.” — Marisa Bardach Ramel, co-author of The Goodbye Diaries: A Mother-Daughter Memoir”A riveting memoir … O’Brien’s honesty, humility and humor will have you flying through the pages, rooting for her every step of the way.” — Joan Dempsey, author of This Is How It Begins”A candid, in-depth look at one woman’s journey with MS and how it touches those around her. A great read for anyone struggling with chronic illness from diagnosis, through acceptance and into thriving in the new normal.” — Lori Espino, president of Greater New England chapter of the National MS Society”