Finding Resilience

A story of survival and hope in the face of a debilitating illness When thirteen-year-old Rachel Leland fell in a soccer game, she had no idea that her life was about to change forever.

A seemingly simple injury to her wrist led to an outbreak of inexplicable, debilitating pain throughout her body, leaving her bedridden and needing a wheelchair. This set Rachel and her mother, Dorothy, on a quest to find relief from her agonizing symptoms. Refusing to accept the opinions of doctors who either claimed that she was “faking it” or that nothing could be done, Rachel at last found a diagnosis: chronic Lyme disease.

Rachel and her family were forced into a wildly different reality of long-distance doctor appointments, battles with unsupportive school and health-care systems, and daily doses of IV medications. Throughout the ordeal, Rachel’s mental health deteriorated as well, landing the teenager in a psychiatric hospital.

Based on the journal Rachel kept during her years battling Lyme and depression, this raw memoir chronicles Rachel’s journey to becoming the strong, healthy woman she is today. Interspersed with Dorothy’s insights, Finding Resilience is an unflinchingly honest and inspiring account of the struggles and triumphs they experienced together.