Logo for: North Carolina Writer's Network
Back to Book Buzz

A Family Disease: A Memoir of Multigenerational Ataxia

A Family Disease: A Memoir of Multigenerational Ataxia

By Dana CreightonPublisher: Toplight (McFarland)ISBN: 978-1-4766-8318-8Genre: Nonfiction: MemoirPrice: $19.99, paperback / $10.49, e-book

A Family Disease is a memoir written by someone with personal experience living in a family with a genetic illness. She also spent two decades interacting with people and their clinicians in the healthcare system.

She uses both perspectives in order to tell her own story which includes family tragedies followed by silence.

Finding the words to describe her own experience were crucial but utilizing hope, faith and the power of connection to others made it possible to re-frame the story and mend a broken heart.

Dana Lorene Creighton has an MS in exercise physiology and spent her career involved in clinical research and community health. She has contributed to various publications in scientific journals and lives in Durham.

Reviews

Dana tells the story of how she came to understand and cope with the circumstances of her life. She does it with warmth and candor, and no sign of self-pity or morbid sentimentality. She’s a curious, intelligent person who seeks to realistically meet her challenges.

L.K., Amazon Reviewer

I found it very engaging for me as a reader with medical knowledge. There was also a parallel story about how the disease was interpreted through a person who was a talented athlete. I recommend this book.

J.M., Amazon Reviewer

I knew I would read about the authors life, but not the depth of the struggle. How Dana chooses to live and give hope and advice to all no matter where they are in life is just incredible. Anyone would benefit from reading this book.

Amazon Reviewer