"The results of your predictive testing are here, and they show that you did inherit the gene for Huntington's disease."
Those words, delivered by the neurologist to 57-year-old Mae Brown, forever changed her life and the lives of her family. Me, Mom & the Monster is a soul-stirring memoir that follows the path of this farming wife, businesswoman, mother and grandmother who lived a life with a monster of a disease. Interwoven with Mae's story is that of her third child, Corinne, whose life is intrinsically connected to her mother's diagnosis. Told from alternating voices of Corinne and her mother, this is a candid account of the harrowing effects of living with a fatal, genetic disease. Me, Mom & the Monster captures the authenticity and vulnerability of a mother and daughter who find themselves entwined in a long dance with a neurodegenerative disease.
"A poignant reminder to us as physicians and scientists that a diagnosis is but the beginning of care. This book offers a humbling opportunity for us to consider the impact of illness as an extension of the human condition. It provides keen insight into not only our individual patients' struggles, but how the impact of illness can span generations, and the power of family in the provision of care."
- John Diggle, BSc, MD, CSCN, FRCPC; Clinical Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine (Neuroscience), University of British Columbia; Chief Medical Officer, Elysian Health Group.
