To Exist As I Am - A Doctor's Notes on Recovery and Radical Acceptance

What do you do when life changes in an instant? What does it mean to heal when the world keeps asking what''s wrong? At the age of twenty-two, Grace Spence Green''s spine was broken at the fourth thoracic vertebra. One day, she was in hospital supporting patients, the next she was fighting for her own life. As she struggled to piece together her new life as a wheelchair user, she wondered how she could she be both a doctor and a patient. To Exist As I Am chronicles Grace''s journey from idealistic medical student to spinal-injury patient, and then to qualified doctor and vocal disability activist. Her life-affirming reflections question the value we place on independence, in favour of the rich networks of care that bind us together. She asks how we might fight for change, while joyously embracing life as we are.

About the author

Grace Spence Green is a junior doctor working to challenge the narratives surrounding disability, medicine and identity. In 2018, aged 22 and a 4th year medical student, she sustained a spinal cord injury and is now a full-time wheelchair user. Since her life-changing injury, Grace has become a passionate advocate for the disabled community, appearing in the BMJ and Guardian, and across TV and radio.

Product details

• Authors: GRACE SPENCE GREEN, Grace Spence Green
• Publisher: Profile Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 01.06.2025
• EAN: 9781800814486
• ISBN: 978-1-80081-448-6
• No. of pages: 224
• Dimensions: 130 mm x 212 mm x 14 mm
• Subjects: Guides > Health; Humanities, art, music > Education > Social education, social work; MEDICAL / General, Disability: social aspects, Medicine and Nursing, Doctor / patient relationship