“I had lost confidence and a sense of self. Who am I? Am I a person who cowers in fear at the back of a spin class, avoiding everyone’s gaze? This uncertainty about who I am, this confusion over where I truly was in the time line of my illness and recovery, was ultimately the deeper source of the shame. A part of my soul believed that I would never be myself, the carefree, confident Susannah, again.” FearBrainMadness Book:Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Source: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
“I had asked him many times why he stayed, and he always said the same thing: “Because I love you, and I wanted to, and I knew you were in there.” No matter how damaged I had been, he had loved me enough to still see me somewhere inside.” True Love Book:Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Source: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
“To move foward, you have to leave the past behind” PastMovingBehindsLeaving The PastLeave The Past Behind Author:Susannah Cahalan
“Sometimes, Just when we need them, life wraps metaphors up in little bows for us. When you think all is lost, the things you need the most return unexpectedly.” ThinkingNeedsLittlesSometimesLostReturnMetaphorBowsWraps Book:Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Source: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
“We are, in the end, a sum of our parts, and when the body fails, all the virtues we hold dear go with it.” EndsBodyVirtueFailingDear Book:Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Source: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
“Maybe it's true what Thomas Moore said: “It is only through mystery and madness that the soul is revealed.” SaidSoulMysteryMadness Book:Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Source: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
“The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess.” BeautifulBrainMessMonstrousNeuronsHeart And BrainBeautiful MessTangled Webs Book:Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Source: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
“When the brain is working to remember something, similar patterns of neurons fire as they did during the perception of the original event. These networks are linked, and each time we revisit them, they become stronger and more associated. But they need the proper retrieval cues--words, smells, images-- for them to be brought back as memories” NeedsRememberMemoriesBrainFireEventsPerceptionStrongerOriginalsPatternsSmellLinkedNeuronsRemember Something Book:Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Source: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
“On April 2, the nurses started my first round of five intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) infusions. The clear IV bags hung on a metal pole above my head, their liquid trickling down into my vein. Each of those ordinary-looking bags contained the healthy antibodies of over a thousand blood donors and cost upwards of $20,000 per infusion. One thousand tourniquets, one thousand nurses, one thousand veins, one thousand blood-sugar regulating cookies, all just to help one patient.” FirstsHelpingClearFiveBloodHealthyCostThousandOrdinaryPatientRoundsBagsMetalsNurseSugarHungVeinsCookiesAprilLiquidDonorsInfusionBlood SugarAntibodies Book:Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Source: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness