Sarah Ramey's story began with what seemed like a routine infection which would not respond to the usual treatment with antibiotics. It came to some kind of conclusion eight nightmare years later when - finally - her mother (a doctor) was reading through her daughter's notes and realized that one single blood test result (among hundreds) from five years previously had never come through. This test was re-run and revealed a straightforward diagnosis, for which there was a standard, effective treatment. The Lady's Handbook for her Mysterious Illness is a nuanced, angry, sardonic, intelligent, indignant and sometimes amusing book which will speak to legions of women who find themselves faced with scepticism and bafflement from their doctor. Sarah Ramey tries to untangle the knot of prejudice, embarrassment, ignorance, and annoying behaviour from patients, medical professionals and alternative health practitioners which has led to millions of women leading lives of misery and pain because of undiagnosed and untreated illness.

Ramey is to be applauded for facing her ordeal with humour and for having the courage to put her experiences down on the page . . . WOMIs (women with a mysterious illness) may well find a lifeline in The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness

Vorwort
What Elizabeth Wurtzel did for depression, what Dave Eggers did for bereavement, Sarah Ramey does for women's health.

Autorentext

Sarah Ramey is a musician and a writer who worked as the chief blogger for Obama's website during his campaign and edited his speeches. She is a ferociously good writer.

Klappentext

The darkly funny memoir of Sarah Ramey's years-long battle with a mysterious illness that doctors thought was all in her head - but wasn't. A revelation and an inspiration for millions of women whose legitimate health complaints are ignored.

In her harrowing, defiant and unforgettable memoir, Sarah Ramey recounts the decade-long saga of how a seemingly minor illness in her senior year of college turned into a prolonged and elusive condition that destroyed her health but that doctors couldn't diagnose or treat. Worse, as they failed to cure her, they hinted that her devastating symptoms were psychological.

The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness is a memoir with a mission: to help the millions of (mostly) women who suffer from unnamed or misunderstood conditions--autoimmune illnesses, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic Lyme disease, chronic pain and many more. Ramey's pursuit of a diagnosis and cure for her own mysterious illness becomes a page-turning medical mystery that reveals a new understanding of today's chronic illnesses as ecological in nature, driven by modern changes to the basic foundations of health, from the quality of our sleep, diet and social connections to the state of our microbiomes. Her book will open eyes, change lives and, ultimately, change medicine.