There are four parallel stories running through Karen's writings: What it is like to live in Chronic Pain every day, the pain of systemic tendonitides caused by the Fluoroquinolone antibiotic poisoning from Levaquin(R) (Levofloxacin) and what it is like to be ostracized by family and friends to end up alone with no help, no support. Too constantly hear from doctors "that there is nothing wrong with you" "you are just doing this to get attention or pain pills". The idea behind this book is that if you see yourself in one of those threads that you can put this book into the hands of someone, family, friend or doctor and say "This is me!" in the hopes that they 'get it' instead of thinking of you as a crazy hypochondriac out to get attention or drugs. If someone you know who has Chronic Pain gave you this book, they want you to understand, through Karen, what they are dealing with, possibly every moment of their life. What your friend or relative wants to hear the most from you after you've read what Karen had to say is "I believe you." Your brain is meant to be floating around in your skull and when it is not due to Intracranial Hypotension from a Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Leak or the opposite Intracranial Hypertension (too much pressure), things are getting yanked on that were never meant to be yanked on, causing debilitating pain that the word 'Headache' fails to describe. Karen's Journal is required reading at Duke University School of Medicine. Foreword by Connie Deline, MD, Co-founder, Spinal CSF Leak Foundation. If you have Intracranial Hypotension caused by a Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Leak; Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH); Chiari; Chronic Pain; Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS); Invisible Disabilities, Rare Diseases, Scoliosis or injury from Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic this may be the book that resonates with you. Spinal CSF Leak Foundation edition. Updated August 7th, 2018. All royalties go directly to the Foundation.

Andrea Buchanan lost her mind while crossing the street one day. Suffering from a horrible cough, she inhaled the cold March air, and choked. She was choking on a lot that day. A sick child. A pending divorce. The guilt of failing, as a partner, as a mother. Relieved when the coughing abated, she thought it was over. She could not have been more wrong.When Andrea coughed that day, a small tear was ripped in her dura mater, the membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord. But she didn’t know that yet. Instead, she went on with her day, unaware that her cerebrospinal fluid was already beginning to leak out of that tiny tear.What followed was nine months of pain and confusion as her brain—no longer cushioned by a healthy waterbed of fluid—sank to the bottom of her skull. There was brain fog and cognitive impairment to the point where she could not even make sense of the most basic concepts. At a time when she needed to be as clear-thinking as possible, she was trapped by her brain.The mind-brain connection is one of the greatest mysteries of the human condition. In some folklore, the fluid around the brain is where consciousness begins. Here, in the pages of The Beginning of Everything, Andrea seeks to understand: Where was “I” when I wasn’t there?

I Will Survive is the story of Gloria Gaynor, America's "Queen of Disco." It is the story of riches and fame, despair, and finally salvation. Her meteoric rise to stardom in the mid-1970s was nothing short of phenomenal, and hits poured forth that pushed her to the top of the charts, including "Honey Bee," "I Got You Under My Skin," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and the song that has immortalized her, "I Will Survive," which became a #1 international gold seller. With that song, Gloria heralded the international rise of disco that became synonymous with a way of life in the fast lane - the sweaty bodies at Studio 54, the lines of cocaine, the indescribable feeling that you could always be at the top of your game and never come down. But down she came after her early stardom, and problems followed in the wake, including the death of her mother, whose love had anchored the young singer, as well as constant battles with weight, drugs, and alcohol. While her fans always imagined her to be rich, her personal finances collapsed due to poor management; and while many envied her, she felt completely empty inside. In the early 1980s, sustained by her marriage to music publisher Linwood Simon, Gloria took three years off and reflected upon her life. She visited churches and revisited her mother's old Bible. Discovering the world of gospel, she made a commitment to Christ that sustains her to this day.

John Tollefson, a son of Lake Wobegon, has moved East to manage a radio station at a college for academically challenged children of financially gifted parents in upstate New York. Having achieved this pleasant perch, John has a brilliant idea for a restaurant specializing in fresh sweet corn. And he falls in love with an historian named Alida Freeman, hard at work on a book about a nineteenth-century Norwegian naturopath, an acquaintance of Lincoln, Thoreau, Whitman, and Susan B. Anthony.

The darkly funny memoir of Sarah Ramey’s years-long battle with a mysterious illness that doctors thought was all in her head—but wasn’t. In her harrowing, darkly funny, and unforgettable memoir, Sarah Ramey recounts the decade-long saga of how a seemingly minor illness in her senior year of college turned into a prolonged and elusive condition that destroyed her health but that doctors couldn't diagnose or treat. Worse, as they failed to cure her, they hinted that her devastating symptoms were psychological. The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness is a memoir with a mission: to help the millions of (mostly) women who suffer from unnamed or misunderstood conditions—autoimmune illnesses, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic Lyme disease, chronic pain, and many more. Ramey's pursuit of a diagnosis and cure for her own mysterious illness becomes a page-turning medical mystery that reveals a new understanding of today's chronic illnesses as ecological in nature, driven by modern changes to the basic foundations of health, from the quality of our sleep, diet, and social connections to the state of our microbiomes. Her book will open eyes, change lives, and, ultimately, change medicine. The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness is a revelation and an inspiration for millions of women whose legitimate health complaints are ignored.