In 2002, diagnosed with an extremely rare and life-threatening disease-fibrosing mediastinitis-at the age of twenty-seven, author Rebecca Lalk was told the average life expectancy with this condition was ten years. Doctors knew very little-there was no cure, and limited treatment options were available.
In I'll Take My Disease Rare, Please, she shares her journey dealing with the diagnosis and the disease that affects only 600 hundred people in the United States. She narrates how her illness began to attack with a vengeance leaving her to fight extreme fatigue, chest pressure, memory loss, head rushes, along with the chronic cough that began to overtake her life. She looked healthy, but nobody listened or took her seriously about the severity of her symptoms.
This memoir tells Lalk's story full of perseverance and determination. I'll Take My Disease Rare, Please describes how the diagnosis led to a new spiritual awakening, and how she was spurred to push forward with faith, family, and her sense of humor. Lalk's determination also led her to one doctor who was able to help her and who told her to go live her life. With God's grace, Lalk has done just that. She has since outlived that diagnosis by three years and has been referred to as a walking miracle.