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Biography & Autobiography. Health & Fitness. Medical. Nonfiction. HTML:A riveting and candid account of a young journalist's awakening to a life of chronic illness, weaving together her personal story with reporting to shed light on how Americans live with long-term diagnoses today. Tessa Miller was an ambitious twentysomething writer in New York City when, on a random fall day, her stomach began to seize up. At first, she tried to push through the searing pain, taking time off work and staying home, glued to the toilet. But when it became glaringly apparent something was wrong, Miller gave in to her family's requests and went to the hospital-and thus started a years-long personal nightmare that included procedures, misdiagnoses, and life-threatening infections. Once Miller was finally correctly diagnosed with Crohn's disease, she had yet another new battle to face: accepting that she will, in truth, never get better. Today, 3 in 5 adults in the United States suffer from a chronic ailment, whether the illness is endometriosis, IBD, IBS, Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, asthma, depression, anxiety, diabetes, or any other chronic ailment. However, despite the prevalence of these illnesses and the impact they have on just about everyone-whether the sufferer is a colleague, a loved one, or you personally-there remains an air of shame and isolation around the topic. Millions endure these diseases alone, not only physically but also emotionally, balancing the stress of relationships and work amidst the ever-looming threat of health complications. Moving from Miller's maddening yet all too relatable experience into a deeper look at how the medical community handles chronic illness, What Doesn't Kill You exposes the realities of what it means to accept a lifetime diagnosis, pushing past the good, the bad, and the ugly to offer wisdom and solidarity for those trying to make sense of it all. *This audiobook includes a PDF of resources from the appendix of the book..… (more)
User reviews
The facts and figures she presents on our healthcare, how so little, including mental health is unavailable to those who need it most. So often even if available the cost is prohibitive. This was eye opening for me, I didn't realize how truly awful this is, for so many.
She offers us glimpses into her personal life and ultimately offers advice, hope. Advocate for yourself, take care of yourself, your brain, your well being which are all integral to self acceptance, paths forward. As with all chronic diseases, there are many stresses, periods of depression, self doubt but reading her story provides one with commanalities and a shared focus. Much advice is the same as other books on the subject of living with a condition that one learns is never leaving but her story is unique as our conditions are unique to us.
ARC from Netgalley.