{"product_id":"9781472936127","title":"Patient H69 : The Story of My Second Sight","description":"\u003cstrong\u003ePatient H69\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Vanessa Potter\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eImagine waking up, suddenly blind and paralyzed! It happened to “patient h69” in this gripping story of one women's quest to understand her unique neurological illness and recover from it.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 2012, Vanessa Potter, a married advertising film producer with two young children, was stricken by Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD), a rare illness that resulted in sudden blindness and paralysis. Over the next five months, she regained mobility, but recovering her sight was more problematic. At first what she saw was monochromatic. As color reappeared, she encountered synesthesia (experiencing odd responses to stimuli, such as hearing inanimate objects talk to her). While a team of neurobiologists, psychologists, immunologists, and developmental biologists treated her, she blogged and kept audio-diaries, using the pen-name Patient H69.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn her own words, Vanessa reveals the terror and torment of her blindness. Supported by neuroscientists and Britain's National Health Service, Vanessa became a science sleuth, uncovering some of the innermost functions of the brain and our complex visual system, while learning meditation and self-hypnosis to help herself endure the ordeal and make a miraculous recovery.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer case offered scientists an important, and previously inaccessible, window into the process of early visual development, as her own optic nerves self-repaired and her brain went into overdrive. \u003ci\u003ePatient H69\u003c\/i\u003e is a gripping human story, made all the more real by the unique response of one patient and the science she uncovers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A stunning account.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Potter's work records an indomitable spirit that righted a world that had turned upside down.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“. . . an enthralling personal chronicle . . . A compelling firsthand medical account--it's as if an Oliver Sachs patient were to tell her own story--sure to appeal to memoir fans as well as those interested in the science of the brain.” —\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003ePatient H69 \u003c\/i\u003eis more than a memoir. It is a journey toward understanding the brain told through the harrowing story of an intensely curious woman with the foresight to track her progress, and the compassion to use her experience to help others.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLong-listed Amazon.com Best Books of the Year (2017)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781472936127\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Sigma","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40663927750862,"sku":"9781472936127","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_20f7f757-e8d5-488f-8abf-ba0b2c7deb9d.jpg?v=1639624776","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781472936127","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}