One-Eyed Kings: Lessons I Learned from an Incurable Disease

Description

One-Eyed Kings informs, inspires, and even entertains while frankly and nimbly recounting the author s confrontation with an unexpected, incurable foe. His rare disease does not reveal itself with the quick body punch of a heart attack. It creeps up slowly, renders legs unsteady and fingers ever less functional. When diagnosed, inclusion body myositis guarantees a years-long decline in mobility. Falling becomes the dreaded enemy. James V. McTevia makes peace with IBM, as its victims call the disease; but he wryly sums up human nature in the chapter heading: I d Rather Not Have Inclusion Body Myositis. Have it he does, however, and his one-day-at-a-time philosophy translates to credible, well-spun advice for readers facing any adversity medical, financial, or spiritual. After a long career as a renowned problem-solver in the business world, the author found a problem he could do nothing about. It was his own problem, revealed when he discovered he could not fasten the top button of his shirt. One-Eyed Kings is a riveting reminder of perils lurking in ordinary life for all of us, and the inner will we must harness to address them. An afterword by Dr. Tom Lloyd, co-director of the Johns-Hopkins Myositis Center, provides a concise scientific overview and discusses prospects for new drugs that will help those stricken by inclusion body myositis, including 20,000 Americans.