Patient H69: The Story of My Second Sight (Bloomsbury Sigma)

We see with our eyes? right? Well, not exactly. In 2012, over the course of 72 hours, Vanessa Potter dramatically lost her sight. Going blind led Vanessa to turn science sleuth and reinvent herself as Patient H69. As she slowly recovered she began to reveal the reality behind her unique experience. Opening her eyes onto an unrecognisable black-and-white world with mutating shapes and colours that crackled and fizzed, Vanessa's recovery turned into a mission to unearth the incredible science behind how and why we perceive the world as we do. Thanks to cutting-edge research she was able to recreate her bizarre and otherworldly visual landscape as a series of remarkable digital images. In this book, we follow the story of Patient H69 as, with the help of neuroscientists from the University of Cambridge, she learns the science of herself, making discoveries that will go on to change the direction of her life. Vanessa's account is raw and candid, taking us through the trauma of her sudden sight loss and the impact it had upon both herself and her family. It shows how this remarkable woman opened doors by transforming her terrifying experiences into a scientifically fascinating endeavour "Imagine how it would feel to one day wake up and find your vision descending swiftly into darkness. Your fingertips are turning numb, and, as the world closes in around you, you realise there is nothing you can do to stop it. This is what happened to Vanessa Potter. In the space of 72 hours, Vanessa went from juggling a high-flying career as a producer and caring for her two small children to being completely blind, unable to walk, and with her sense of touch completely gone. Over the course of the next six months, Vanessa slowly began to recover. Opening her eyes onto a black-and-white world with mutating shapes and colours that crackled and fizzled, she encountered a visual landscape that was completely unrecognisable. As colour reappeared, Vanessa experienced a range of bizarre phenomena as her confused brain tried to make sense of the world around her, and she found herself touching and talking to inanimate objects in order to stimulate her vision ? all part of her brain's mechanism for coping with the trauma of sensory loss. Going blind led Vanessa to turn science sleuth, reinventing herself as Patient H69 to uncover the reality behind her unique condition. With the help of a team of psychologists and neuroscientists, we follow her story as she learns the science of herself, making discoveries that will positively change the course of her life. Vanessa's account is raw and candid, but ultimately upbeat. It shows how this remarkable woman opened doors by transforming her terrifying experience into an inspirational and scientifically fascinating endeavour."-- Provided by publisher Imagine what it would be like to one day wake up and find that you were suddenly completely blind. This is what happened to Vanessa Potter. Her condition is unique. It has no name. Over the course of the next six months, Vanessa slowly recovered her vision. Opening her eyes onto a watery, two-dimensional landscape, she saw an unrecognisably monochromatic world. As colour reappeared, Vanessa encountered a range of bizarre phenomena, from synaesthesia to discussions with inanimate objects - all part of her brain's mechanism for coping with the trauma of sensory loss, and the recovery of her optic nerves. Vanessa soon became a one-woman experimental subject, as a multi-disciplinary team of neurobiologists, psychologists and immunologists tried to work out what had happened to her, and why, and what incredible things they might be able to learn from her. The scientists were fortunate to know exactly what she was experiencing through her audio-diaries; her unique medical recovery offered a window into the way that the human optic system develops. A foetus can't explain what's happening as its optic system grows, develops, and clicks into action. Vanessa could. This mesmerising account tells the story of Patient H69 in her own words, based on these detailed diaries she kept during her time of blindness and through the scientific research that was to follow. Having helped open windows into some areas of developmental neurobiology that were barely understood before, this gripping story is a testament to the resilience of the brain itself In 2012, Vanessa Potter, a married advertising film producer with two young children, was stricken by Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD), a rare illness that resulted in sudden blindness and paralysis. She was hospitalized for two weeks. Over the next five months at home, she regained mobility but recovering her sight was more problematic. At first what she saw was monochromatic. As color reappeared, she encountered synesthesia (experiencing odd responses to stimuli, such as hearing inanimate objects talk to her). While a multidisciplinary team of neurobiologists, psychologists, immunologists, and developmental biologists treated her, she blogged and kept audio-diaries, using the pen-name Patient H69. In her own words, Potter reveals the terror and torment of her blindness. Supported by neuroscientists and Britain's National Health Service, Potter became a science sleuth, uncovering some of the innermost functions of the brain and our complex visual system, while learning meditation and self-hypnosis to help herself endure the ordeal and make a miraculous recovery. Her case offered scientists an important, and previously inaccessible, window into the process of early visual development, as her own optic nerves self-repaired and her brain went into overdrive. Patient H69 is a gripping human story, made all the more real by the unique response of one patient and the science she uncovers. Introduction: The story of Patient H69 part 1: Diary of events: MMXII ; Snake bite ; The pillow ; D-Day ; Home ; Mowbray Road ; Painting project 1 part 2: Diary of the science: The science of my sight ; The art of seeing ; Synaesthesia ; Memory ; Making no sense ; Cambridge Science Festival 2015 ; 20/200 ; Time traveller Appendix I: The beach : a visualized sanctuary Appendix II: Visualization guide. Imagine Waking Up, Suddenly Blind And Paralyzed! It Happened To “patient H69” In This Gripping Story Of One Women’s Quest To Understand Her Unique Neurological Illness And Recover From It.