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Monday, January 21, 2019

SPOTLIGHT: Disconjugate Gaze by Daniel Rufer @disconjugate

Disconjugate Gaze 
by Daniel Rufer

My friend wrote a memoir based on the experiences he went through recently.
An amazing, strong, intelligent and hilarious man, take a moment to find out more below.



About four years ago, I woke up with numbness in my left foot which, over a period of just six weeks, spread to the entire left side of my body. The numbness was caused by a vascular anomaly called a cavernous malformation. Long-story short, the “cav mal” required a ten-hour brain surgery to halt its expansion into my brainstem. While the surgery most certainly saved my life, it further debilitated the left side of my body, paralyzed the right side of my face, caused permanent double-vision, and required a three-week stay in the hospital. After all that and countless hours of physical and occupational therapy, I’ve been able to resume a full life, though my motor-skill deficiencies, numbness, and double-vision persist.

Disconjugate Gaze is the story of my health struggle from the date of diagnosis through one year of recovery.


Author Biography:

I am a Mathematics Teacher and Grade Dean in the High School Division at Grace Church School in downtown Manhattan. I am a lifelong New Yorker as is my wife Kirstin. We have been married for almost four years and together for slightly more than ten. We live together with our dog, Moxie, in Long Island City.

My undergraduate degree is in Economics from Vassar College and I hold masters degrees in Teaching Mathematics and Educational Leadership from City College and  N.Y.U respectively. I am a long-suffering Mets, Jets, and Knicks fan, but believe that championships will come before the end of the 21st Century.


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