Diagnosis Unknown: Our Journey to an Unconventional Cure [Paperback]

Randy Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1997

Linda Smith woke up one morning with a small red dot just above her left eyelid. The lesion remained a source of intense pain and suffering and in the course of the next year, thirteen doctors could not heal or correctly diagnose the problem.

Then the journey began.

Through practitioners of "unconventional" medicine, alternative therapies helped her recover strength and eventually led to the source of the problem and to her healing.

Diagnosis Unknown is a compelling example of how people can take responsibility for their own healing and follow the trail to recovery.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571740651
• ISBN-13: 978-1571740656
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nothing else like it ever written!, June 9, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Carmel Valley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diagnosis Unknown: Our Journey to an Unconventional Cure (Paperback)

I am a medical physician. I have purchased and perused scores of well-written books put out by experienced practitioners for other health professionals. Many of them have proved quite useful. None however has given me the sense of what it is like to be the bewildered patient who has just seen a dozen primary care and specialist physicians for a steadily worsening condition, and now does not know where to turn. This book does. I work in an Emergency Department. I see a number of people there, frequently at odd hours, who arrive searching for answers we are hard-pressed to give them there. I think they come to us because they simply don't know where else to turn. Unlike the nicely worked-out treatment guidelines we learn in medical school, there is no clear protocol for those who "fail" our allopathic therapies. And, this is at a time when so many need so much more than what we are presently trained to offer. Diagnosis Unknown explores the actual experience of what it is like to be young, previously healthy, suddenly ill and steadily declining, and with not even a medical diagnosis (let alone medical therapy) in sight. Imagine having already seen every available medical specialist relevant to your condition, and steadily getting worse. Where would you then turn? Massage? Radionics? Acupuncture? Electrodermal screening? This book takes the reader through all of these, and quite a bit more. It is such a handy experiential guide that I have been recommending it to patients and colleagues alike.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book reads like a detective novel., January 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Diagnosis Unknown: Our Journey to an Unconventional Cure (Paperback)

When I started to read this book I had no idea I would be awake at 2:00am unable to put it down. It is written with the sense of suspense that a who-done-it has. I am a health care professional and although I have a great deal of respect for "modern" medicine, I have all too often witnessed patients made worse by our interventions. I so enjoyed the self disclosure that the author brings to his writing. The reader can readily identify with the search and sympathize with Linda in her desperate illness. The book has given me a great reading list and opened my eyes to methods of diagnosis and treatment that I would never have known about. I also appreciate the direct voice that the author uses - very clear - not on a soap box - simply sharing their adventure. It would be easy, considering their experience, to use this book to vent their collective spleens at the medical community. The battles between the AMA, et al. and alternative medicine were reported factualy without added fuel, allowing for the reader to absorb the information and make up his or her own mind. I recommend this book very highly for anyone who desires to take charge of their health and would like to share how a delightful and charming couple managed to take charge of theirs.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Several of my friends are now on the road to wellness, July 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Diagnosis Unknown: Our Journey to an Unconventional Cure (Paperback)

This is a fascinating story, which confirmed many of my doubts about conventional medicine and opened up a whole new world of integrative medicine to me and my friends. I loaned this book to several friends that had cancer or other undiagnosed diseases and it made a difference in each of their lives. Not only is the subject matter of great importance, but as a bonus the book was very easy to read and very entertaining