Boyd Hamlin endured and is overcoming two major brain surgeries to remove cavernous malformations, between which he was diagnosed with transverse myelitis. He chronicles each surgery while explaining the effects of each. The transverse myelitis was the source of a lot of pain, while the second brain surgery had more long-lasting effects than the first surgery. Through this experience, he felt he needed encouragement. What seemed to be counterintuitive he learned to give to receive rather than ask.