Rusty's Story

Carol Gino

Nov 2019 · aaha! Books, LLC; 2nd edition edition (October 12, 2010) · Narrated by Jessica Hazard

About this audiobook

“Why do they keep locking me up?”

Rusty’s Story is Carol Gino’s account of the extraordinary life of the woman she undertook to help – the woman who ended up teaching her an invaluable lesson about the will to live, the strength of hope...

Rusty used to wonder if she would make it through the day, seeing danger in everyday living. Rusty has epilepsy.

She was twenty when Carol Gino met her and learned of her past ordeals: the stigma of mental illness, the drugs that took away her self-control, the treatments that only worsened her symptoms.

Carol and Rusty set out to prove that illness can be overcome, and that there is no substitute for love and care.

From Library Journal

While many advancements have been made in understanding and treating epilepsy, the disease is still surrounded by an aura of dread. Rusty was a teenager when she was stricken with epilepsy. Misdiagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, for years she suffered more from inappropriate medical treatment than from her condition. The reader is mesmerized as Gino passionately relates Rusty’s plight. Despite repeated incarcerations in a frightful state mental institution and the toxic effects of drugs, she never lost her sense of humanity or her strong desire to help others. Gino’s deep distrust of the medical establishment, her fervent attachment to nursing, and her conviction that the patient knows best are themes that are interwoven into the emotional story of Rusty’s fight for a normal life. – Carol R. Glatt, Helene Fuld Medical Center Lib., Trenton, N.J

About the author

Carol Gino, R.N., M.A. is a best selling author and registered nurse whose more than twenty-year career has included experience in intensive care, psychiatric nursing, hospice care, pediatrics, the Burn Unit and teaching. Her articles have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, such as NEW YORK MAGAZINE, NURSING, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF NURSING, and the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Her first book, THE NURSE'S STORY was on both the Publisher's Weekly and LA Times bestseller lists and was translated into nine foreign languages. Her second book, RUSTY'S STORY, a NEW YORK TIMES bestseller, won the National Book Award from the Epilepsy Foundation of America. She has appeared on many TV shows across the country. Her book, THEN AN ANGEL CAME chronicles the healing of her family after the death of her grandchild, Greggy, from SIDS.After spending most of her life in New York, she now lives in Smithville, Texas. She has two children and four living grandchildren and was the long time companion of the author Mario Puzo, whose book "The Family" she completed in 2001.