Publisher's Synopsis
Rodney Mann was Every Man, a few times over. Raised by his grandparents in North Carolina, he strived to be the best at what ever he did. He played baseball to earn a scholarship; he joined the Navy to become a SEAL, earning two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart; he got a job at a restaurant to quickly work his way up to a General Manager position with a six figure salary package. He swims better than fish. Rodney is genuine. He is not afraid of hard work, and he loves competition. He hates needles, he's afraid of heights, and sometimes he likes to go a little too fast. "It's a good thing I had a good life before this happened." "Life with the Suicide Disease: The Story of Rodney Mann" is the true story of a man whose life of hard work and accomplishment was stopped, then set on fire by the most painful nerve disease known to medicine. Rodney brought some PTSD home from the navy, so he could not work for the federal government anymore. He chose a career in the restaurant business. Having survived the training of a decorated SEAL - the Management program at Outback was an easier ladder to climb. In a few short years he earned the position of General Manager at a fine dining restaurant. He was engaged. Everything was in place. This is how it was supposed to be. One morning, while cleaning up after a previous night's reception, Rodney slipped backward on a wet cement floor, shattering his hand while breaking his fall. He had multiple surgeries, and spent six months wired and bolted into a cast. Then one evening, while trying to relax after physical therapy, the fire moved into his left arm. "Like somebody dipped it in gas and lit it up, from the bones out." Everything good was about to disappear. That was twelve years ago. Long after everything that can be done has been done, and nothing works. He cannot safely take more meds; he's on his fourth spinal cord stimulator. There are a few different medical names for what he's got - RSD, CRPS, Causalgia - but everybody that lives with it knows it as the Suicide Disease. The story is written as it was told to the author. He was searching for a lifeline; he met a story teller. Read "Life with the Suicide Disease: The Story of Rodney Mann"