In high school when all you wanted was to be normal, what did you give to fit in? Or what did you keep? A moving memoir of struggle and survival, The Secret within My Mother Myself, chronicles Massapequa Park resident Alexandra Gargalione-Bertoni's battle with a seizure disorder since she was 14 and coming to terms with her own mother's deadly bout with a rare form of cancer.

The book takes a long, hard look at Gargalione-Bertoni's life as she deals with her disease. It is a coming-of-age story detailing her problems with this disorder and its life-altering effects. When her mother - her best friend - is diagnosed with Paget's disease, Gargalione-Bertoni's health recuperates just in the nick of time to be there for her mother, as her mother had always been there for her.

"Telling the world that you had a seizure disorder compounded by anxiety attacks is not the easiest thing to do, but deep in my soul I knew it is what I desperately needed to do," said Gargalione-Bertoni. Through her book, she fulfills an inner yearning to connect with people about her disease and share her true story of life, death, love, and hope. The Secret within My Mother Myself will leave readers with a renewed appreciation of life and the desire to live no matter what.