Publisher's Description of Against Medical Advice:  Cory Friedman woke up one morning when he was five years old with the uncontrollable urge to twitch his neck. From that day forward his life became a hell of irrepressible tics and involuntary utterances, and Cory embarked on an excruciating journey from specialist to specialist to discover the cause of his disease. Soon it became unclear what tics were symptoms of his disease and what were side effects of the countless combinations of drugs. The only certainty is that it kept getting worse. Simply put: Cory Friedman's life was a living hell.

AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE is the true story of Cory and his family's decades-long battle for survival in the face of extraordinary difficulties and a maddening medical establishment. It is a heart-rending story of struggle and triumph with a climax as dramatic as any James Patterson thriller.

I am a busy mom, but what mom isn't, right?  Well, I couldn't put this book down!  I read the first half one day and the rest of the book the next.  I am still in shock that I read it so quickly.  Some things got a little neglected.  Not the children, but the laundry and dishes and tidying up!

When I picked this book to review I didn't really read the description above to know what it was about.  I just know that we often go against medical advice and was very curious.  Now, when I did read the description there was a connection for me.  A family who we get together with once in a while has a boy with Tourette's.  This book has helped me understand that boy and his family so much better.  Now he has no where near the extreme "symptoms" Cory Friedman had but the syndrome is still there and still affects their family and therefore our interaction with them.

Through reading this biography, I am better able to empathize and the authors wrote in such a way as to pull me into the story.  I could view myself as one of those in his life - a teacher, his mom, a friend, a doctor or professional.  Because this book is written as if it is an autobiography, from the view of Cory, you get inside his head and hear and see things you normally wouldn't.  The authors, Cory's dad and a family friend, did an amazing job at making Cory's life come alive for the reader.  You become that boy, that pre-teen, that teenager.

The authors' objective seemed to be getting us to understand the disease and its effects on life for the whole family.  They achieved that goal without great fanfare and extreme emotion; very well balanced and educational!