Attitude Is Everything: My Multiple Sclerosis Story - Paperback

by Conor Devine (Author)

At the age of twenty eight, Conor Devine had a fantastic life by any measure. With a supportive family and a great career, he had just married Kate, the love of his life. The young couple honeymooned on the tropical island of Mauritius, but on the first day of their new life, disaster struck. Conor's body came under attack by a mysterious virus, confining him to the hospital for the rest of his visit. Within a year, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The disease brought his world to a halt. How would he support his family? How would he carry out his life confined to a wheelchair? How could this happen to a healthy young man? He lived in a world filled with questions and void of any answers. As Conor lays out, multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty sheaths that protect and cover nerve cells are damaged. This leads to a broad spectrum of symptoms including tremors, muscle spasms, loss of balance, numbness, slurred speech, and uncontrollable eye movements. As the disease progressed, Conor worked out a plan to begin rebuilding his life. After three years of struggling with on-again, off-again attacks, the young man decided he needed to formulate a strategy to regain control of his brain. Using a three-point plan, he mapped out a framework to beat multiple sclerosis and begin living and dreaming once more. This inspiring account will motivate others to examine their own lives and see what improvements can be made when everything else seems hopeless. As the author admits, MS symptoms and severity vary widely from person to person. His story of recovery may be just as valid as the more severe sufferer who takes pride in being able to walk just a few steps every day. Ultimately, Attitude is Everything: My MS Story will appeal to a broad range of readers looking for an inspirational tale that demonstrates the great power of summoning a positive attitude to confront life's problems.

Author Biography

Conor Devine is an ordinary guy with an extraordinary story to share. A chartered surveyor by profession and an extremly ambitious young man growing up in Ireland, he first developed symptoms of multiple sclerosis while on his honeymoon on the tropical African island of Mauritius at 28 years old. Twelve months later, he was formally diagnosed with the neurological disorder and would have to find a way to reorder his life, as control over his body and mind slipped away from him. After three years of the disease's worsening progression, he mapped out a three-point plan to fight back against his multiple sclerosis and regain control of his life. Today he is pasisonate about sharing his experience and this book is a story of one mans incredible journey back to health and fulfillment.