Ridgefield High School grad and former HamletHub intern has been off the grid for a while, and she hasn’t been on vacation or enjoying solace in a faraway place. The spunky, smart, and oh-so-joyful 27-year-old has been fighting for her life.
And now, she’s sharing her story with the world. Amber just penned: My Inflamed Brain a fight against Anti-Dopamine Receptor 2 Antibody-Positive Autoimmune Encephalitis.
The synopsis reads:
Picture this: You wake up one morning as a 10-year-old unable to swallow, a skill you had just last night. You've lost the ability to swallow. Trying to swallow your own saliva causes you to feel like you're choking. Water scares you. Food scares you now. Your desperate parents take you from specialist to specialist who cannot figure out what's going on and provide diagnoses that make no sense to you all. 10 years later, your symptoms have multiplied and worsened and you're held in a psychiatric ward against your and your parents' will. Everyone thinks you're "mentally ill", but one doctor thinks differently and discovers your immune system is attacking your own healthy brain, causing inflammation. Your body has produced antibodies against the Dopamine 2 receptor. That inflammation led to neuropsychiatric symptoms. This neuroimmune condition is called Anti-Dopamine Receptor 2 Antibody-Positive Autoimmune Encephalitis. Now 27-year-old Amber Bodeur will take you along on her journey with Autoimmune Encephalitis and all the lengths she had to go to treat it to finally achieve remission.
My Inflamed Brain is now available on Kindle and in paperback and hardcover.
Congratulations Amber! We are so happy you are in remission and can add “author” to your list of incredible accomplishments!