Two New Books on Multiple Sclerosis, Both by Doctors
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Hope. It could be said that what many of us are looking for when we read anything about multiple sclerosis (MS) — blogs like this one included — is hope. That, and to feel like we’re not alone in the experiences we have on this journey with our disease.
As many of you will know, my memoir, Chef Interrupted, was published a few years ago in the United States and then again in Ireland. One of the most common responses from readers was, “I thought I was the only one.”
We are not alone in many of our experiences. And, I’m happy to tell you, my next book about living with MS — and the experiences we have in common — is due out in the spring of 2024. I’ll say more as we get closer to the publication date.
But I digress. We’re talking about other people’s books about MS.
Both a Medical Practitioner and an MS Patient
In Up the Down Escalator: Medicine, Motherhood, and Multiple Sclerosis, Lisa Doggett, MD, writes eloquently about her experiences as a medical practitioner and a medical patient.
Dr. Doggett was a cofounder of Texas Physicians for Social Responsibility before her diagnosis. Her long history with socioeconomically challenged patient populations as they confronted the American medical system while contending with chronic illnesses, mental health issues, and both everyday and life-altering conditions, informed her approach to coping with her own medical challenges.
Far from an “it could be worse …” offering, this book is sprinkled with lighthearted anecdotes about the ways she has found to get around MS so she can get on with living her life and treating her patients.
It’s a candid but hopeful story, revealing without being scary. For those who enjoy listening to their reading, Doggett also narrates the audiobook version.
Approaching MS From the Research Perspective
The Face Laughs While the Brain Cries: The Education of a Doctor, is written by Stephen L. Hauser, MD. Some will recognize the name, as Dr. Hauser is an MS-specializing neurologist and researcher at the University of California in San Francisco. His name is on many of the papers we’ve referred to over these many years.
The book’s title has nothing to do with the writer himself. Rather it takes its name from the pseudobulbar palsy exhibited by “Andrea,” a patient with severe MS whose facial expressions were disconnected from her cognitive intentions.
Hauser blends personal and professional experiences, but his personal experiences are professional as well. His close contacts with patients can’t help but become personal on some level. He began his practice in the days of “diagnose and adios,” before treatments were available.
He has, of course, now been an integral part of bringing many of the life-changing disease-modifying therapies through the clinical trials process and into the approval pipeline.
The writing is humorous and accessible as well as personal and scientific. If you’re one who likes to know how the sausage is made, this might be a read for you.
Consider This a Recommendation
Both books will be interesting to those living with this disease, and I suspect that partners or carers, as well as those with other chronic illnesses, might find them useful and even, perhaps, entertaining.
I know I did.
Wishing you and your family the best of health.
Cheers,
Trevis
My book Chef Interrupted is available on Amazon. Follow me on the Life With MS Facebook page, and read more on Life With Multiple Sclerosis.
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