Inside the O'Briens Reflection

Inside the O'Briens was a great story about a typical Boston family whose father gets diagnosed with a terminal illness of Huntington's Disease. Honestly, before taking this neuro course and reading this book, I was unsure of what HD really was or how it even came to be. I now know that it is a very life altering, genetic disease that can be devastating to any family whose loved one is affected. It was very sad to read in the book how just one trip to a doctors office can change someones life forever, and also their family members lives as well. It was hard to read about the guilt that Joe felt when learning that he passed down this gene to other members of his family as well, knowing he could do nothing about it. It was interesting to read the perspective of his daughter Katie, and the decision of finding out whether she had the gene or not that consumed her mind everyday. I can't imagine being in that situation and basically having to choose to know when I'm going to die or not. One of my favorite moments in the book is when Katie approaches her dad, after having suicidal thoughts about his life, and encourages him to be a role model to their other family members. It was like this turning point in the book where Joe finally is accepting of his diagnosis and remembers why he is there and the motivation that keeps him alive everyday. Katie is also one of those inspiring characters that I felt like I could relate to the most in this book. It was interesting to see how the relationship with her boyfriend was affected by HD, and how she transformed from living in complete fear of the disease in the beginning, to at the end, having the courage to face it head on and to know one way or the other that she was going to live her life to the fullest know matter what the test results were. Overall, I thought the book was a fabulous read. It really inspires you to live life to your fullest everyday because each day is not promised to anyone. I hope more research can be done on this disease, and I hope that this book educated more people about the affects of HD and hopefully promoted supporting research that can find a cure in the future!