The Beginning of Everything: The Year I Lost My Mind and Found Myself

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Andrea Buchanan lost her mind while crossing the street one day. Struggling with a severe cough, she inhaled the cold March air and began to choke. That day, she was choking on more than just air—a sick child, a pending divorce, and the guilt of feeling like a failure as a partner and mother weighed heavily on her. When the coughing subsided, she thought it was over. She couldn't have been more wrong.

That cough caused a small tear in her dura mater, the membrane covering the brain and spinal cord. Unaware of this, she continued her day, not realizing her cerebrospinal fluid was leaking from that tiny tear.

Over the next nine months, Andrea experienced intense pain and confusion as her brain, no longer cushioned by fluid, sank to the bottom of her skull. She endured brain fog and cognitive impairment so severe that even basic concepts became incomprehensible. At a time when clarity was crucial, she found herself trapped by her own mind.

The connection between mind and brain is one of humanity's greatest mysteries. In some folklore, the fluid surrounding the brain is where consciousness begins. In The Beginning of Everything, Andrea Buchanan seeks to understand: Where was "I" when I wasn't there?