Stuart Ross McCallum

Hello Friends,

My book titled: Beyond my Control is the true story of my life, beginning with my battle trying to beat the slimming disease — anorexia nervosa. While trying to break the vicious cycle I was in, another condition suddenly entered my life — epilepsy. I was seventeen.

I describe my twenty-year journey of living with epilepsy and how the unpredictable disease has not only impacted my life but the lives of everyone around me. For fifteen of those years, I operated my stained glass business and managed staff while battling an ever-increasing number of seizures. As the condition deteriorated and my post seizure responses became more intense, I was often prone to violent outbursts that threatened not only my safety, but the safety of everyone close to me.

I share how the perception of the disease and the socially unacceptable behaviours that occurred as a result of my post seizure responses, eventually forced me to risk everything — I made the life-altering decision to undergo two major brain operations that I hoped would provide freedom from a life of instability, danger, and stares from strangers.

Beyond my Control is an honest, emotional look into a highly complex and all too often misunderstood condition. If you are like me and enjoy reading true stories written from the heart, my highly personal book is sure to be both entertaining and at times — enlightening. No, it is not to heavy, there is humour shining all the way through.

Thank you, all the best Stuart