One Women's Battle for Survival

Allergic to Life: My Battle for Survival, Courage, and Hope by Kathryn Chastain Treat

This is a story of a 44-year-old woman whose life is turned into a nightmare, as she reenters the workplace, only to find that she has an extreme allergic reaction to the mold in the building. Author Kathryn Chastain Treat narrates her day by day excruciating experiences as multiple allergens turn her into a prisoner locked in her own little world. Her immune system is unable to fight the barrage of everyday allergens that continue to mount, attempting to destroy her life for an entire decade.

This is a book I could not put down, having suffered similar symptoms, but nowhere near the level of this brave woman, who needed to wear a mask on her face in public, and throw away her clothes, worn only once. At its worst, she had to live in a specially detoxified building, separate from her own home and her devoted husband.

I happened to meet Kathryn briefly online while reading and replying to a Rave Review Book Club interview. Months later she passed on to a place free from the nightmare in which she had lived. Reading her book, knowing she had made such progress overcoming her allergies, is often difficult. As a talented writer, Kathryn brings the reader into her life story and takes them along on her incredible, almost unbelievable story. She shares her tears, hopes, fears and strength, making this outstanding book a true testament to overcoming and defeating the ordinary things that were deadly toxic to her.

This book and its author had a profound and lasting impact upon my own life and is a recommended read for everyone on so many levels. Kathryn Treat may have had the most horrifying experiences throughout her battle but in spite of it, she lived and loved to the fullest until she reached the point where she was no longer, “Allergic to Life.”

Micki Peluso, author of . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang