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MedHead: My Knock-down, Drag-out, Drugged-up Battle With My Brain (2010)

by James Patterson(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0316084980 (ISBN13: 9780316084987)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

review 1: So far, I've read that Cory had went to high school and first thing he decided to do was join a football team. His first game, he mad many scores and his team had one. At the end of the game people were cheering his name. He came back to his smoking habits and wasn't allowed to play in any games but sit on the bench. He started making a friend who was his aide and stayed with him all the time she to Cory's disabilities. Turns out his aid wanted to get him in trouble. Cory was suspended for a few days and a threatening letter to his aide added more days. He had a few friends over for a party in his basement and it has escalated to a fight with one of his friends he felt close with. The fight started because Cory had defended his other friend. Cory got beaten up and was blee... moreding on his knees. His dad came down to find out there was a fight and the party had ended anyway and some of the kids had gone home. The next day, one of his other friends who had stolen his medicine was in the hospital and gave Cory's family's number to contact instead of her own family's. I think and feel that sometimes Cory wants to fit in because he has no friends. And it's understandable because of his disabilities, he had lost a lot of friends and important people in his life. Sometimes they mistake Cory for being somebody else and doesn't realize that the things he does is out of his disabilities.
review 2: James Patterson and Hal Friedman's Med Head tells the story of Cory, a young man who unfortunately has to live with the effects of having Tourette Syndrome. The book follows his life, providing details from his younger years when he described Tourette as simply being a "nervous tic" to his adolescent years when he spent many sleepless nights wondering why he had no friends. Wanting nothing more than to be considered "normal" and escape the nightmare that this syndrome has caused his life to be, Cory undergoes numerous psychological tests and tries an overwhelming array of medications, many of which are used to treat illnesses that are in no way related to Tourette. He tries everything possible to get better, not even thinking twice about the toll that all of these medications will take on him in the long run, a brave characteristic that makes me admire him even more. The book essentially examines the way that society looks down on people living with disabilities who have endured more hardships than one can ever think of.In reading this book, I have learned many things, some factual, but the others, life lessons. I have learned that Tourette doesn’t have a cure, that the struggles that come with diagnosing a patient can be extremely difficult, and that sometimes the search for something that works for you, means having to try endless solutions, each more drastic than the last. I have learned that sometimes you just have to follow your intuition and that only you know yourself fully and what you need. I have learned to expect the unexpected, because the things that you think are hopeless and will never work, really do. But the most important thing that I got out of this reading, something that people tell me numerous times, but never actually stuck with me is that a person can truly never lose hope, because losing hope means accepting failure, without even first putting up a fight.One of the most memorable events in this book would have to be the scenewhen Cory was getting ready to pitch for his team at a baseball game. At this moment, Cory's team had been "losing by three runs, and [their opponents] have got bases loaded with two outs in the fourth inning. Cory, already a nervous wreck knowing how vital this pitch was for the outcome of the game, was having more than his usual urges or tics. Instead of him just tapping his nose once like he used to, he suddenly has the urge to tap his nose three times, two times, then one over and over again. The other team, knowing that Cory had Tourette, and that his tics got worse in stressful situations, took advantage and started to make fun of him, telling him that he can't the heat of the game. The sad thing is, is that the worst happens, he suddenly gets an urge to throw a wild pitch, which he ends up doing, causing the other boys to yell and laugh even harder. His dad, however, seeing his son having a breakdown, saves the day and shouts "GO CORY!” getting the attention of the crowd who soon copies him. This helps Cory overcome his tics and he ends up throwing 3 strikes in a row getting the person hitting out. Long story short, they win, and Cory couldn't have been any more proud of himself.Scenes like this, and the writing styles of the two authors combined made me feel as if I was living alongside Cory, from the first craning of his neck that caused him to live with this horrible disease, to the day when he hit his first home run while in little league. I grew up with him, in those adolescent days when all he wanted was to fit in and have friends, to the time when he had his first sip of vodka and his first puff of a cigarette, things that grew to be his best friends for a while. I suffered with him, through the endless sleepless nights when he would be writhing in pain, screaming for help even taking near fatal dosages of drugs that were supposed to help him. I was welcomed into his family, feeling the endless love and care that his parents provided, but also feeling the pain of his parents after they sought out treatment after treatment for this disorder that was threatening to break their family apart. I was also there for the best part of the ride, I was there to see Cory finally break free from the reins of his sickness. I was there when he made it to the top of the mountain, surviving through the wilderness camp where he was finally able to free himself from the right hold that drugs, alcohol, and nicotine had on him. And lastly, I was there with him when his tics went away, finally allowing Cory to live and enjoy his life like a normal, healthy, loved, and accepted human being.Med head is a book that I am extremely grateful to have read and is something that I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good read, or anyone who is simply trying to transition into reading nonfiction books. It wasn't at all what I expected it to be and turned out to be a roller coaster of a read, one which took me along its twists and sharp turns, but in the end turned out being a wonderful ride.Ultimately the story of Cory Friedman's journey living with what was later to be diagnosed as Tourette, OCD, and a severe case of anxiety is a story of how harsh people can be, judging an innocent boy's every move, treating him as if he were a time bomb ready to go off at any minute, all the while pushing him further and further into the darkness he is trying so hard to escape from-- depression. It all adds up to the tale of human's capability to overcome any hardship, an inspiring example which shows us that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, we just have to push through the darkness, no matter how endless it may seem, to reach it. Med head tells that story in the most amazing way possible, ensuring us that as long as we have faith in ourselves, we will have a chance of surviving in this tough world. less

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