The author was four when he had his first seizure following a bout of high fever. That made him the object of constant concern to his family and dictated almost every decision he made. With medication, Sadler was deemed seizure-free for several years, though his speech was permanently affected. After a college sailing accident, he had his first grand mal seizure. He continued sailing despite the dangers, graduated from university with an engineering degree, found employment with the Navy, and then a position with the Army Corps of Engineers. As he grew older, his ability to deal with seizures weakened, leading to radical brain surgery. In 2010, after informally counseling a man whose child had epilepsy, he approached a turning point in his life. He became a licensed graduate professional counselor and now works as a mentor/advocate for the Epilepsy Foundation.

From his narrative, it is easy to imagine that Sadler would be a sensitive and extremely knowledgeable counselor for those with seizure and other brain disorders. He initiates his story with an explanation of epilepsy, using scientific terms but couching them in a layman’s perspective. Accounts of his own seizures (which often involved almost total loss of short-term memory) are vivid and distressing. He is modest about his accomplishments as a civil engineer—a profession that required a high degree of supervisory duties and responsibilities—and all performed while battling the stress of epilepsy. He credits his faith in God and the support of family and co-workers as sustaining factors. He includes useful information about caring for someone who has seizures, organizations to turn to, and different types of seizures. His book is both a memoir and a highly intelligent guide for those with seizure disorders and their caregivers who, like Sadler, “search for meaning and refuse defeat.”

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