One morning five-year-old Cory woke up and had an urge to shake his head to the side. As the day wore on he continued to have a building tenseness in his neck, which forced him to have to shake his head. He did not understand what was happening to him. His parents took him to the doctor, who misdiagnosed Cory with ADHD and put him on medication. This only made him feel worse and caused his face to tic. At night his mother had to give him doses of Benadryl to calm him down enough to let his body rest and help him drift into sleep.

As the days turned into months his symptoms worsened, and he was finally diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome. Although he now had a name for his problem, he did not have a cure. He went to school and was ridiculed and ostracized because of his uncontrollable movements. His parents did everything they could to give Cory a normal life and seek help for his condition, but in spite of all medications, nothing helped but alcohol. He soon became an alcoholic and a chain smoker. Life for Cory, in his own words, was a "living hell."

When his father asked him if he would tell his story, Cory said only if it would help others like him. I believe readers will be transformed through this book. This is "his story" told in "his own words" of eighteen years living in a body that he couldn’t control, through a life he didn’t choose. You will weep with Cory through his misdiagnosis and medications which tormented him. You will applaud his tenacity and strength. And you will be inspired by his will to live through devastatingly poor odds.

Anyone with a debilitating handicap will be forever changed by reading Cory’s story, and caretakers will find inspiration and hope. I recommend it for those who have never shared any of these experiences to find empathy in their hearts for those of us who live with illness or chronic conditions.