Saving Each Other: A Mother-Daughter Love Story
Vanguard Press, October 2012
On the surface, Victoria Jackson is the American Dream personified: from a troubled childhood and unfinished high school education she overcame immeasurable odds to create a cosmetics empire valued at more than half a billion dollars. Married to Bill Guthy -- self- made principal of infomercial marketing giant Guthy-Renker -- Victoria's most treasured role was mother to three beautiful, beloved children, Evan, Ali, and Jackson.
Suddenly, Victoria's dream life is broken as she begins to battle a mother's greatest fear.
In 2008, her daughter, Ali, began experiencing unusual symptoms of blurred vision and an ache in her eye. Her test results led to the diagnosis of a disease so rare, the chance that she had it was only 2%. Neuromyeltis Optica (NMO) is a little understood, incurable, and often fatal autoimmune disease that can cause blindness, paralysis, and life-threatening seizures, and afflicts as few as 20,000 people in the world. At the age of 14, Ali was given a terrifying prognosis of between four to six years to live.
Saving Each Other: A Mother-Daughter Love Story begins just as Victoria and Bill learn of Ali's disease, starting them on a powerful journey to save Ali, their only daughter, including bringing together a team of more than fifty of the world's leading experts in autoimmune and NMO-related diseases to create the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation.
Told in alternating viewpoints, Victoria and Ali narrate their very different journeys of coming to terms with the lack of control that neither mother nor daughter have over NMO, and their pioneering efforts and courage to take their fight to a global level.
Bringing their story to light with raw emotion, humor, warmth, and refreshing candor, Saving Each Other is the extraordinary journey of a mother and daughter who demonstrate how the power of love can transcend our greatest fears, while at the same time battling to find a cure for the incurable.
Hardcover | ISBN: 9781593157333 | Publication Date: October 2012
Reviews:
"Sometimes we're given a physical or spiritual challenge that we
have no idea how we're going to rise to. In this riveting account
of a mother-daughter love story and their urgent search for a
cure, we're made aware of the power that dwells inside utter
necessity. By the end of this book, you'll laugh, cry, rage, and
rejoice . . . and you'll feel that lovely connection to life that
you only get when you pass through your dark night of the soul."
-- Kathy Freston, New York Times bestselling author of
Quantum Wellness and The Lean
"Any parent or child will be moved and inspired by this story of
how love and dedication can conquer pain and fear; a vivid
reminder that there is nothing more powerful or enduring than the
bond of mother and daughter."
-- New York Times bestselling author Rob Lowe
"This is a spectacular and gripping story of personal courage and
entrepreneurial creativity, involving a mother and daughter. It is
a story of medical researchers and disease detectives working hard
to cure a young woman's frightening disease. The saga is ongoing,
exciting and full of drama and hope."
-- Larry Steinman MD, Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics
Stanford University and Chairman of Immunology 2002-2011
-- Anthony Robbins, New York Times bestselling author, internationally-acclaimed speaker, and peak performance expert
"Saving Each Other is a love story, a medical mystery, and
also the proof we badly need that cooperation beats competition
every time. This is an irresistible book that inspires readers --
and could reform experts."
-- Gloria Steinem
"I've made a career telling inspirational women's stories.
This real life story is a triumph. Saving Each Other
is about a mother and daughter bonding over love, maturity and
survival. Victoria and Ali, two people I've admired for years,
have written an incredibly moving and important story that must be
shared."
-- Garry Marshall
"The unstoppable power of these two extraordinary women is an
unforgettable and inspirational experience you will carry in your
heart forever."
-- Dustin Hoffman
"As a woman, mother, and close friend of the authors, I find this
story deeply moving on so many levels. The work that I've
seen Victoria, Ali, and the foundation undertake has been
extraordinary, especially in bringing doctors together to share
ideas and create a dialogue that wasn't there before. As
their experts grow closer to finding better, more effective
treatments for this disease, they can open the door for solutions
to many other diseases -- and that's just incredible!"
-- Reese Witherspoon
"Saving Each Other is a testament to a mother's incredible
strength and a daughter's unshakable courage. However, it is
so much more than that. The Guthy/Jackson family's journey in
fighting Ali's disease -- and their refusal to give up -- is beyond
inspirational; it is truly one of the greatest love stories I've
ever read. This wonderful book will make you laugh and cry.
But most of all, you will cheer for this amazing family's
unfailing tenacity and hope in the face of enormous obstacles and
fear. Their fight will ultimately help save countless other
lives."
-- Sherry Lansing, CEO, The Sherry Lansing Foundation
