Review: A Facinating Medical Mystery...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 16, 2013
Inspite of all the things author Eva Hagburg did to stay healthy, Yoga, long walks, good diet, CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), Talk Therapy, acupuncture, OT/PT services, multiple M.D. appointments, she decided she was being "cosmically punished". Her symptoms of: debilitating weakness/fatigue, frontal headaches, horizontal dizziness, buzzing head and ears ringing, her body tense and coiled. Eva got sick on January 27, 2008, about 6 months after stopping drinking alcohol heavily, and using Cocaine.Hagburg attended college in NYC, and fell in love with her mentor. After graduation she worked as a freelance writer for an architecture design magazine that eventually went out of business. Her friend Spencer suggested she relocate with him to Portland Oregon. After moving to Oregon, she discovered she loved the Pacific Northwest, enjoyed cycling up to 10 miles a day etc. She wrote articles for Portland Monthly Magazine. Her health symptoms did not improve, and she thought they were stress/anxiety related. Her new M.D. Ann Pride prescribed psychotropic meds for secondary anxiety, after she was in a cycling accident where she broke her wrist and arm. I was especially pleased when Hagburg met a new partner through Yoga. Eventually, they relocated to Berkley, CA. where Hagburg attended grad school.Finally, her M.D. ordered an MRI, and Hagburg was hospitalized 7 days. Her M.D. thought there was a brain cyst, with elevated AFP (alpha fetoprotein), a T2 weighted signal showed a dark spot behind her Pituitary gland. A biopsy was scheduled on May 21, 2013. Two cysts were found, punctured and drained. There were significant amounts of protein, brain samples taken. Hagburg was glad to have a treatment, she ponders her lack of formal diagnosis. At first, she was even relieved to think may have had cancer, allowing her a possible further understanding of her medical condition.This is a fascinating medical mystery. I haven't given any surprises/spoilers away, and there are a few of them. I am wondering if her medical issues could be related to her past drug/alcohol consumption. I found this a challenge to follow at times.  Hagburg is a professional writer, key identifying details were ommited, info about family, friends, lovers, were very vague. Hagburg admitted she had tantrums, (I assumed these occurred in her partners presence,) no further details were provided. I enjoyed this read, at times the author seemed oddly disconnected from parts of her life experiences, but, this might have been due to her medical problems.Referenced: Joshua Cody, (Sic) A Memoir: November 5, 2012Cody explained in his medical memoir, that there were people who needed disease to teach them (life lessons), finding: "opportunity for existential awakenings". He was not that type of individual.