I jumped at the chance to read Life After Encephalitis: A Narrative Approach. Upon delving into the book by Dr. Ava Easton, I was surprised to learn that many people are not familiar with this horrible disease. As a child I learned about the disease and its severity. My mother spoke of a woman with encephalitis who lived very close to our Kansas home. The little that I learned about this malady more than 60 decades ago was all I knew of it.

My mother called it sleeping sickness, and said those who suffer from it go into long periods of unconsciousness. I've learned from the Easton book that this definition which I heard more than 60 decades ago is pretty much spot on. Months of lying comatose are indeed common among those who contract the ailment. What I did not learn in detail from my mother were many of the specific facts about how the illness alters lives. But I know now that mother was much aware of its horrible nature.

Thanks to this book I've learned that those who have had encephalitis experience a great amount of memory impairment. It can leave a person unable to recognize those close to them following hospitalization. It strikes some 4.5 million people globally per year, some of whom eventually experience remarkable recovery. It proves fatal for others.

This book requires some forced attention if you are not closely tied to someone with encephalitis or if you are not a medical professional. Some of it will greatly benefit those associated with the healing arts while being difficult for others to follow. If you stay with it from start to finish, you'll learn a lot about a disease you may have not known about. ( )