This Is How I Save My Life
Searching the World for a Cure: A Lyme Disease Memoir
Amy B. Scher
- “A
- heartwarming
- and
- inspiring
- story
- that
- will
- change
- the
- way
- you
- look
- at
- life.”
- —Vikas
- Swarup,
- New
- York
- Times
- bestselling
- author
- of
- Slumdog
- Millionaire“An
- Eat
- Pray
- Love-like
- memoir.”
- **—**Pam
- Grout,
- #1
- New
- York
- Times
- bestselling
- author
- of
- E-SquaredWhen
- doctors
- have
- all
- but
- given
- up,
- when
- a
- diagnosis
- eludes
- you,
- and
- when
- every
- test
- result
- raises
- more
- questions
- than
- answers,
- how
- do
- you
- save
- yourself?By
- the
- time
- Amy
- B.
- Scher
- was
- twenty-eight-years-old,
- she
- had
- lived
- through
- almost
- a
- decade
- of
- misdiagnoses,
- excruciating
- pain,
- brain
- lesions,
- bone
- marrow
- biopsies,
- blood
- transfusions,
- and
- multiple
- hospital
- stays
- to
- treat
- her
- late-stage,
- chronic
- Lyme
- disease.Taking
- forty-four
- pills
- a
- day
- and
- deteriorating
- rapidly,
- she
- consulted
- with
- more
- than
- sixty
- doctors,
- including
- the
- top
- experts
- in
- Los
- Angeles,
- the
- world-renowned
- Mayo
- Clinic
- in
- Minneapolis,
- and
- a
- state-of-the-art
- hospital
- in
- Chicago.
- When
- the
- best
- physicians
- in
- America
- labeled
- her
- condition
- incurable
- and
- potentially
- terminal,
- it
- was
- up
- to
- Amy
- to
- blaze
- her
- own
- path
- forward.Then,
- in
- a
- stroke
- of
- serendipity,
- she
- heard
- about
- an
- experimental
- treatment
- only
- available
- in
- India—human
- embryonic
- stem
- cell
- therapy—which
- had
- as
- much
- probability
- of
- killing
- her
- as
- it
- did
- of
- curing
- her.
- She
- boarded
- a
- plane
- with
- no
- idea
- of
- what
- awaited
- her:
- culture
- shock,
- radical
- medical
- treatment,
- and
- most
- surprising
- of
- all,
- life-affirming
- love.With
- warmth
- and
- humor,
- Amy’s
- powerful
- and
- uplifting
- story
- of
- sheer
- determination
- is
- for
- anyone
- who
- believes
- in—or
- doubts—the
- existence
- of
- miracles.
- It
- is
- for
- anyone
- who
- wants
- desperately
- to
- believe
- in
- the
- power
- of
- the
- human
- spirit
- when
- it
- seems
- that
- all
- hope
- is
- lost.
- For
- everyone
- who
- has
- suffered
- from
- chronic
- pain,
- grappled
- with
- an
- autoimmune
- condition,
- fought
- for
- a
- diagnosis,
- or
- trusted
- their
- gut
- and
- their
- body
- when
- no
- one
- else
- did,
- Amy
- is
- a
- living
- example
- of
- how
- our
- instinct
- to
- survive
- can
- propel
- us onward.
