MEMOIRS: HEALTH, DIAGNOSES, AND DISABILITIES

3:00 pm - 3:45 pm
| Location of Session: Festival Room
Adult Sessions

Start of Signing: 4:00 pm
| Signing Location: Festival Marketplace

My Schedule

About the Event

A memoir of triumph in the face of a terrifying diagnosis, Up the Down Escalator: Medicine, Motherhood, and Multiple Sclerosis recounts Dr. Lisa Doggett’s startling shift from doctor to patient, as she learns to live with multiple sclerosis while running a clinic for uninsured patients in central Austin. Greg Marshall’s remarkable memoir Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It details growing up gay in Utah, his parents’ own illnesses, and the various ways his disability has impacted his life. These two will join the stage together to discuss diagnoses and disabilities, resilience, and recognizing and cherishing what matters.

About the Author

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lisa Doggett

Lisa Doggett

Dr. Lisa Doggett is a family doctor, writer, and MS warrior based in Austin. Dr. Doggett is passionate about improving care for vulnerable populations and helping people with MS and other chronic conditions live their best lives. She recently joined UT Health Austin’s Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Center as a primary care and lifestyle medicine physician. She is also a columnist for the national news outlet, Public Health Watch, and senior medical director for Sagility Care Management. Her new memoir, Up the Down Escalator: Medicine, Motherhood, and Multiple Sclerosis, chronicles her transformation from doctor to patient while directing a clinic for people without insurance.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Greg Marshall

Greg Marshall

Greg Marshall was raised in Salt Lake City. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Prose, Marshall is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers. His work has appeared in The Best American Essays and been supported by MacDowell and Yaddo. His first book is Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It.

Moderator

Suzanne Ohlmann

Suzanne Ohlmann is a writer, registered nurse, and musician. Her book, Shadow Migration, was published by the University of Nebraska Press in March 2022. She works in a hospital as a critical care nurse and teaches storytelling as means to navigate illness and the human condition. Her essays have been published by The Cleveland Review of Books, Texas Monthly Magazine, Intima: The Journal of Narrative Medicine, and Longreads. She lives in San Antonio with her husband, son, and a jubilee of adopted pets.