Saving Sammy - Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD

Author: Beth Alison Maloney
Publisher; Crown Publishers, New York
Price: RM97.60
No. of Pages: 260
Year: 2009
ISBN9780307461834

What would you do if your child suddenly refused to bathe, burst into fits of rage, slithered along walls, and wouldn't walk out of the front door? If you're like Beth Maloney, you'd fight to reclaim your son, taking on members of the medical establishment who are too quick to label him with OCD and Tourette's while prescribing antidepressants that only made the symptoms worse.

Saving Sammy is the inspiring story of how Maloney discovered the real cause of her son's mental illness - the common strep bacteria - and her battle to find the right treatment for him. It is the empowering memoir of a gutsy mom who fought for her son's life and who won't rest until she has helped save others.

The summer before entering sixth grade, Sammy, a bright and charming boy who lived on the coast of Maine, suddenly began to exhibit disturbing behavior. He walked and ate with his eyes shut, refused to bathe, burst into fits of rage, slithered against the walls, and used his limbs instead of his hand to touch light switches, doorknobs, and faucets.

Sammy's mother, Beth already coping with overwhelming responsibility of raising three sons alone, watched helplessly as her middle child descended into madness.Sammy was soon diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and later with Tourette syndrom. Unwilling to accept the doctors' prognoses for lifelong mental illness and repeated hospitalizations, Beth fought to uncover what was causing this decline. Racing against time as Sammy slipped further from reality, Beth's quest took her to the center of the medical community's raging debate about whether mental illness can be caused by infection. With the battle lines firmly drawn, Beth searched until she found two cutting-edge doctors who answered the question with a definite yes. Together, they cured Sammy. Five years later, he remains symptom free.

Driven by her desire to help others, Beth Maloney has infused every page of his triumphant journey with heart and passion. An important story, Saving Sammy is part manifesto, part medical mystery, but is at its heart the empowering and inspiring story of a mother's determination to save her son, take on the medical establishment - and win.