From Booklist
Maybe the world needs more wise-assery. Judging by Duffy's exemplary case of the quality, it definitely does. The MTV VJ-turned-model was in her thirties when she attended the Emmy Awards with George Clooney despite a nasty headache that had grown increasingly worse. After progressive numbness made normal motions impossible, she flew to a New York doctor for help. The diagnosis was sarcoidosis, which causes soft body parts to develop hard, grainy spots that impair the functioning of whatever organ they strike. Duffy maintained a sassy, genuinely upbeat attitude that many of the less afflicted might emulate. When restricted to bed and apartment and too weak to cook, she ordered take-out, donned a ball gown, and invited friends over for company. When large doses of steroids restored mobility, they also created irritability, insatiable appetite, and facial hair, and dates expecting a lovely model instead encountered an irate, tubby woman with a beard. If laughter is the best medicine, Duffy shows that laughing at debility is better yet.
Whitney ScottCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Product Description
From Revlon spokesmodel to film actress to one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People," Karen Duffy was living the life most of us only dream of. Then her whirlwind life of celebrity parties came to an abrupt, grinding halt when she was stricken with a serious illness in one of its rarest forms: sarcoidosis of the central nervous system.
Duffy soon realized that the only way for her to survive was not to take the disease too seriously. Instead of hiding from life, she chose to run toward it. She learned to embrace the chaos of a life-threatening disease with a wit and humor that helped her to find the love of her life at a time when things seemed darkest.
Model Patient is a gripping, inspiring, and hilarious memoir that recounts the singular triumphs and tragedies of coping with a chronic, life-threatening disease.
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