Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

"Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness" should be required reading for everyone in the health care profession- especially neurologists. This past April, 2017, my 18 year old granddaughter, Alysa, after having had seizures, spent 2 weeks in the hospital; MRI's, CT-scans, EEGs and blood work came back normal. Slowly, she became unable to read, to eat, to speak. Slowly, she "descended into madness", becoming violent and hallucinating. In the very beginning of her illness, my daughter-in-law, Gretchen, through research, texted me to have the doctors consider "anti-NMDA receptor autoimmune encephalitis". At the same time, my sister-in-law, Downey, wrote to tell me of this book. Nope. None of the doctors at the first hospital had a clue about it. On April 14th, Alysa was transported to Chapel Hill, NC Neuroscience Hospital. (I requested the information about the anti NMDA receptor autoimmune encephalitis be forwarded with her records) One month before Alysa's illness, a young woman was the first to be diagnosed with this disease at Chapel Hill. Working with The Mayo Clinic, doctors at CH acquired an infusion- which almost immediately reversed Alysa's psychotic symptoms! She is still recovering and will need more infusions and therapy. Susannah's book has not only given us insight into what was a horrific nightmare for our family, it has also validated getting a second (third or fourth) opinion when a patient's condition is not improving. Thank you, Susannah! I hope you have made a complete recovery by now.