Grand Mal

After developing epilepsy as an adult, Robert Dodge experienced increasingly dangerous seizures and was seen by specialists on five continents. His firsthand account of adapting to life with epilepsy begins with an overview of this often misunderstood neurological disorder—still attributed to demonic possession in some parts of the world—and recounts his struggle as his seizures became life-threatening. Dodge describes his treatments and their side effects, including four ineffective surgeries that removed an eighth of his brain, and the personal challenges of social stigma.

Robert V. Dodge is the author of seven nonfiction books. He lives in Denver, Colorado.

Robert V. Dodge
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 225
Bibliographic Info: 19 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8396-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4166-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vii
Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. Black Blizzards 9
2. What Is It? 19
3. What Happens 25
4. Demons 31
5. Useless Eaters 41
6. New Worlds, New Problems 46
7. There Were Two Men 57
8. A Synonym for Stigma 68
9. They Don’t Like Us Much Either 79
10. What Is Real? 83
11. Desperate Decision 92
12. Cold and Alone 98
13. Anticlimax 104
14. The Grids 113
15. Third Time Lucky? 128
16. What For? 134
17. ­Split-Brain? 142
18. Clearing Out the Rest 150
19. Carrying On 156
20. Heavy Weather—“Black Blizzards” Strike 163
21. Difficulties Leaving 170
22. Issues Back in the U.S.A. 179
Chapter Notes 187
Sources 201
Index 213

• Winner, Biography/Memoir—Colorado Authors’ League Book Awards

• Winner, The NYC Big Book Award for Medicine