Uncovering Unseen Resilience: How K.J. Ramsey’s Memoir Reveals Joy Thriving Amidst Heartache
The project of Ramsey’s memoir echoes the sentiment expressed by Susan Sontag in her seminal book Illness as Metaphor: “Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick.” Ramsey begins her book in the kingdom of the well: on a road trip out west with a close friend, she was the healthiest she’d ever been in her adult life. But her state of grace quickly turns.
Before Ramsey became seriously ill, she and her husband were hoping to grow their family by having a baby. Then medical horror rained fire upon their lives. After a year of frequent anaphylaxis and unsure diagnoses — did she have lupus? Ankylosing Spondylitis? Both? — she sought help at the Mayo Clinic. Her body was covered in stretch marks, not from carrying new life but from suddenly gaining over fifty pounds, the brutal side effect of high dose steroids. She had not been given informed consent on the potential consequences of her treatments. The steroids, the ones that would save her life, would also lead to her bones becoming necrotic.
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