Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Over the next few days, Susannah feels wracked with guilt over going through Stephen's things. At work one day, she asks Mackenzie, the editor for the features page, for help. When Susannah shares what she did, Mackenzie insists it's not so bad and says to just try to not do it again. Susannah wonders if her new birth control, the patch, is maybe causing hormonal changes. Susannah tells the reader that later, Mackenzie would share that she was more worried by Susannah's guilty overreaction than the snooping itself.

Susannah asks Paul the same question, and he tells her the same thing. He insists she's not crazy and says that men commonly keep "spoils of war" like photos and letters from their exes. When Susannah returns to her desk, she realizes that the numbness in her left hand has now moved down the left side of her body and into her toes. She calls Stephen, who suggests she see a doctor. Susannah laughs this off and asks Angela for a second opinion. Another nearby reporter suggests that Susannah see a doctor.

Susannah laughs, but she's worried by the worry she sees in her colleagues. She calls her gynecologist, Dr. Eli Rothstein, later that day. Though he's usually a laid-back practitioner, he sounds worried by Susannah's symptoms and arranges for her to visit a neurologist that afternoon. Dr. Bailey's office is very drab in comparison to the marble lobby of his building, and she finds the paintings in the waiting room unsettling. The receptionist hands Susannah an intake form, and Susannah tells the reader that a health history form would never again be so simple as it was that day. The only previous illness she’d had was melanoma on her lower back, which had been removed with minor surgery several years ago.

Susannah says that she's the exact opposite of a hypochondriac, and usually needs prodding from her mom to attend her regular doctor's appointments. She's worried by Dr. Rothstein's worry, and feels as though she needs answers. To keep calm, Susannah focuses on one of the bright, abstract paintings of a human face in the waiting room.

When Dr. Bailey sees Susannah, she hastily describes her symptoms and thinks that she wants to reassure him that nothing is wrong. He conducts his neurological exam, which yields normal results, but asks Susannah to go to the lab for blood work and an MRI. At the lab, the young male technician leads Susannah to a changing area. She folds her clothes and takes off all her jewelry, including her lucky gold ring. The tech guides Susannah to the MRI room and oversees the procedure, and then engages her in conversation as he leads her back to the changing room. Susannah feels exposed, uncomfortable, and as though the tech is being too flirtatious.

Susannah changes as quickly as possible and leaves. Though the MRI is normal, she tells the reader that she'll go on to fixate on the tech's flirtations, which soon start to look malevolent. She realizes hours later that she forgot her lucky ring.

The next day, Susannah tells Angela that her hand is still numb and tingly, and she doesn't feel like herself. Susannah fixates on her lost ring, but irrationally cannot work up the nerve to call the office to get it back. Susannah accepts Angela's offer to walk her home, even though it's a deadline day. At Susannah's apartment, Angela talks Susannah into calling her doctor. Dr. Rothstein tells Susannah that the MRI came back normal. However, a few lymph nodes in Susannah's back are enlarged, and Dr. Rothstein says he suspects Susannah has mono. Angela and Susannah laugh after Susannah hangs up.