- ISBN13: 9780446505246
- Condition: New
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Product Description
Now available in trade paperback, this is the heart-rending drama of one family’s courage, heartbreak, sacrifice, and triumph in confronting an agonizing medical condition, written by two master storytellers. Cory Friedman woke up one morning when he was five years old with the uncontrollable urge to twitch his neck and his life was never the same again. From that day forward his life became a hell of uncontrollable tics, urges, and involuntary utterances. Eventu… More >>
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Do not buy this book. I thought I would learn more about Tourette’s Syndrome. I learned so little. I was left wanting so much more. Shame on Patterson for exploiting this true story for his personal gain. A missed opportunity to raise awareness and better understanding of this horrible condition. Such a superficial read when I was looking for something more substantial. Very repetitive to the point of tiresome. All of a sudden, Cory gets better. No real explanation for us to better understand this. It was as if it was time to complete the book. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.
Rating: 1 / 5
Haven’t read this yet. I was told by a few friends its a very informative and interesting book. One friend has read it twice. You decide
Rating: 3 / 5
I’m sure the book is excellent, or so I’m told. Can’t say for sure since I have never received the book from jesusfan_ky. Thankful it was only $18.00 lost. Buyer beware…..
Rating: 5 / 5
I am still having a hard time reading this book. It is well written, it just isn’t holding my interest. I am aware of this terrible medical problem that haunts many people and I am sympathetic. This book just doesn’t hold my interest.
Rating: 2 / 5
The purpose of this review is to evaluate Against Medical Advice in a neuroscience standpoint. This book is excellent in its execution, and strongly conveys the sense that drugs are not necessarily the answer. The beginning of the book takes us to the turning point of the story. The authors then retell the story of Cory Friedman’s fight against himself at its origins. It then leads us to the attempts the family makes to help Cory without the medical guidance and, ultimately, to Cory’s triumph over Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorder. This book has one of the most unique styles that I have ever seen in a true story. James Patterson, a thriller writer, takes that style and implements it in its entirety in this book. The chapters are fairly short, often jumping from instance to instance, but are delivered exceptionally well. This book will have you going from page to page, yearning for more. The book is also structured in Cory’s point of view. The fact that you get to relive Cory’s tale while reading his thought process is most intriguing.
Medication
Throughout the book, Cory is subjected to many different types of medication. This leads us to a couple points. The first is that Cory’s unique condition was hard to diagnose. For that reason, he was most likely given drugs based on what was observed or mentioned to the doctor. Ultimately, the drugs administered made a negative net change in the behavior. Drugs are not so specific they will do one, and only one, thing. During Cory’s battle, he saw thirteen doctors and was administered about sixty potent medications. The list of side effects for these drugs would no doubt cause your jaw to drop. It is seen that drugs do have a big impact on behavior, and that it is near impossible to diagnose a behavioral problem if part of the behavior is caused by medications being taken.
The second point this brings up is that drugs are not always the answer. After many years of unsuccessful medications and adjusting of doses, the path against medical advice leads to Cory’s victory. The brain is very complex, and pumping it with chemicals, or altering with the chemicals in the brain, can lead to further trouble. Drugs are not always the answer, and, in this case, that was proven.
Tics
Tics are “sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups.” This book displays the many thought processes within Cory. However, his condition was worsened by the fact that his Tourette’s was accompanied by obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorder. Cory often found himself coaxed into doing things, which usually were disruptive actions. The tics were regardless of whether it would hurt him or not. Cory’s brain was tricking him. His pleasure center made it seem like he needed to perform the tics. He would hop, make random noises, pull his own muscles, and commonly do whatever peers tried to get him to do. However, Cory prevailed against these “tics” and took control of them. Late in the book you read that he anticipated the tics to come, and when they didn’t, it took a few days for it to sink it. He didn’t want to get himself in another false sense of reality. Reading about tics in textbooks is nothing compared to this true account of what it feels like, random acts nagging at you to death until you cannot take it any longer.
Plasticity
The brain is always capable of changing itself. It has been shown that stroke patients who could not walk afterward are capable of walking again, eventually – the key to this being continual, intensive therapy. The bottom line is that the brain will reorganize itself. However, it is harder to do so as you get older, but it is possible. To be able to utilize this phenomenon, there needs to be cardiovascular fitness, motivation, learning that makes the mind work, and work that gradually increases. Cardiovascular fitness is important since the brain needs a lot of blood to pump to it.
Going back to the book, this is evident in Cory’s time at the wilderness camp. He lost sixty pounds at the camp, and there was always the motivation to leave the place, which you couldn’t do until you completed the program. The entire time there was difficult for Cory, but his brain was able to correct itself in order to survive there. The mandatory hikes, the frigid cold, having to remember to bring everything with him without misplacing it, and the will to go back home pushed Cory out of his dependence on medications, cigarettes, and alcohol.
Quotes
“It starts as I’m playing a video game. I feel an unusual, intense tension building up in my neck, and I think the only way to relieve it is to jerk my head to one side.”
“I shift into third gear, give it the gas, and take off, laughing. I am alive. I am free. I am flying in the wind. I am me.”
Conclusion
This book conveys strong messages about behavioral problems. In addition, the authors convey those messages in such a way that the book cannot be put down until you see the boy who had his world thrown upside down comes out of it victorious. Complex conditions such as Cory’s should not be hastily diagnosed. Various drugs can only make the problem worse. The fact that the brain can correct problems given the time and work, I agree that going “against medical advice” can be very advantageous. In addition, the book displays what goes on inside the mind of Cory Friedman and his condition of Tourette’s, OCD, and anxiety disorder. I fully recommend potential readers to get this book. I would go into reading this book with the expectation to get emotional and happy for Cory and his family as he digs his way out of this mess. As the title of this review suggests, this book is very suspenseful. I hope you get your hands on a copy of this book and enjoy it as much as I most certainly did.
Rating: 5 / 5