My Beautiful Detour

What happens when an ordinary teenager has to turn into a warrior just to survive? And can the journey through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder really become an "adventure?" Amy had ambitious plans for college and a Broadway career, until her stomach exploded the week before her senior prom. Months later, she awoke from a coma to learn that she might never be able to eat or drink again. After 28 surgeries and seven years on IV nutrition, her digestive system was miraculously reconstructed and her first bite of food awakened her senses to life's ordinary miracles. Yet now, Amy was suddenly faced with memories of being sexually abused by a trusted mentor for months, just before the unexpected rush to the emergency room that fateful Passover night. With determination, imagination, relentless resilience, and an inner "hunger" for life, Amy created a roadmap where none existed. Her journey through life's unthinkable detours is nothing short of miraculous, but the creative path to healing she forged is accessible to anyone.



As a survivor-and "thriver"-of abuse and extensive medical trauma, Amy discovered sources of resilience she didn't know she had but it turns out we all possess. In this book, she creates a tapestry made from each of each thread of her journey, empowering others to find gratitude in every setback and discover their own infinite inner strength. Amy's search for "home" proves to be the greatest test of cultivating resilience after near-death, and reclaiming identity after both sexual assault and medical trauma. Amy's journey is ultimately a celebration of ordinary and extraordinary challenges and miracles.



How can you cope for years without even an ice cube to nourish your thirst for knowledge, or a breadcrumb to fuel your insatiable hunger for life? Amy found many ways, and in this book, she shares her many twists and turns, setbacks and triumphs, obstacles, and ultimately, opportunities. And in between, her humorous adventures from graduating high school in the surgical ICU, breaking out of the hospital to go to the mall, and flourishing as a mixed media artist through the unexpected discovery of a paintbrush during a year-long hospital stay. In this coming of age story, Amy shares her struggles and discoveries living with both visible and invisible illness, the tremendous gifts to be reaped from trauma, its lessons which have illuminated her path, and how these gifts can be discovered as a unique, yet universal way to navigate any kind of uncertainty.

Now with an afterward written by Tony-Award winning composer and lyricist William Finn.