Everybody has a story. My story is the one I know best and can write about. It is not a memoir of chemical dependency or self-abuse. Those subjects have been written about many times. This is a story of my winning battle against depression and the vagus nerve stimulation treatment that saved my life by bringing me Out of the Black Hole. And, this is the first book to be published about winning the battle with a medical implant procedure called VNS TherapyTM. On July 15, 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vagus nerve stimulation “for the adjunctive long-term treatment of chronic or recurrent depression for patients 18 years of age or older who are experiencing a major depressive episode and have not had an adequate response to four or more adequate antidepressant treatments.” Cyberonics, the manufacturer of the VNS Therapy SystemTM is in the process of educating psychiatrists nationwide about the first ever FDA-approved informatively labeled, long-term treatment option for the lifelong and life-threatening illness of depression. Personally, I don’t believe the stigma associated with depression has changed one bit in the past century, so I was apprehensive about sharing my story. After all, I had spent the majority of my life hiding my depression from family, friends, and business associates””and now I was writing a tell-all book.

INTRODUCTION
I wrote the main part of this book as if I were having a conversation with a close friend who was looking for guidance with his or her debilitating chronic depression. I discuss the misery I experienced, the seemingly unending search for answers, the vagus nerve implant procedure itself, and my subsequent recovery from the grip of depression. The second half of the book includes a description of the ninety-minute, outpatient implant procedure, detailed information and pictures of the VNS Therapy SystemTM, and things to consider while deciding to have the procedure. Also included are the insurance codes, the insurance reimbursement process and the latest information about the disease of depression from the American Psychiatric Association. I also wrote Out of the Black Hole: The Patient’s Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression for the loved ones of people who suffer from depression. When a patient reaches the severe, chronic level of this disease, often it is their family members who are making the medical decisions. At the other extreme, the family members may be in the dark about what is going on between the doctor and the patient, or they don’t trust the information that they’re receiving from their loved ones. One thing is for certain, the lack of knowledge about this disease and not knowing the best way to help and interact with the suffering loved one complicates everything. I have been fortunate throughout my life because I have always had access to the best medical care available (for any illness), and I have a close and supportive family. I don’t know how people survive severe depression if they don’t have access to good doctors, the latest pharmaceutical drugs, psychologists, psychiatrists, and a strong support group. Many depressed patients have none of the above, yet they still endure. Their stories, in many ways, are more remarkable than mine. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a book titled It Takes a Village. It’s about how we can shape our society into the kind of village that enables children to grow into able, caring, resilient adults; physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. If my family wrote a similar book about the past ten years of my life, it would be titled It Took Heaven, Earth and VNS TherapyTM So, I’ve also written this book for them.

http://www.OutoftheBlackHole.com

Charles E. Donovan was a study subject in the medical breakthrough investigational trial of vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of chronic depession. The remarkable treatment inspired him to write the book:

Out of the Black Hole: The Patient’s Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression

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