Cadenza for Fractured Consciousness: A Personal History of the World???s Most Misunderstood Illness

Late in 2013, I inexplicably lost my ability to walk. It happened over the course of just a few weeks; fast enough to be terrifying, slow enough to feel everything in crystalline detail. It wasn’t the first sign that something was wrong. About a year before, I had awoken one morning with a shooting pain in my wrist, as if I’d stuck my finger in an electrical socket. Then both my arms went weak. Back then, I assumed it was some kind of repetitive strain injury. It seemed like the predictable result of working too hard. I blamed it on my job and went to see a physical therapist down the road. I didn’t even call my doctor.

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