In this episode we turn the tables on Marabai. Laura Gordon interviews her about her new book, Holding Hope: One Family’s Odyssey through Lyme Disease and Psychosis. Marabai shares excerpts from the book, and shares with Laura what living through a life changing illness, and her husband’s psychosis was like.
On this episode of Badass Dana Malan shares the story of her son Victor’s Leukemia diagnosis at age 5. We explore her family’s sudden entrance into the world of childhood cancer, which involved painful, and sometimes traumatic treatments for Victor. Dana was called on to be an advocate for her son, a task that is not easy in a world that often labels women who speak up as "extra". Dana found herself navigating this while working full time, and with another child who was just a year old when Victor was diagnosed. Thankfully, Victor survived childhood Leukemia and is doing well today. We close this episode with an excerpt from Marabai's soon to be published memoir, Holding Hope.
On this episode of Badass, Emily Reynolds shares with us her experience of being a survivor of domestic violence, or as she likes to call it, a victor. In March of this year Emily’s abuser was convicted of Felony Domestic Battery. It is rare for a survivor of domestic violence to see this kind of justice. Emily shows us the tenacity required on the part of the survivor to see a domestic violence case all the way through. She also illuminates the ways in which domestic violence can look very different from the Lifetime movies we grew up with, just how easy it is for a woman to find herself in a violent relationship, and how hard it can be to get out. We close out the episode with a Fire Side Chat on abortion rights.
Today on Badass, Laura shares with us the story of being ushered into the wilderness by a nameless illness that took hold of her while she was pregnant with her second child. An illness that robbed her of her most basic abilities, and changed every aspect of her life. It took 5 years for Laura to get a diagnosis of Lyme disease, during which time Laura was misdiagnosed, and treated dismissively by the doctors from whom she sought help.