After eight and a half years of watching her mother vanish into an illness that no doctor could name, Rikki Jo Neyer is sharing the family's harrowing journey and the miracle that followed. Her debut book, Do You Believe in Miracles? Our Journey Out of Darkness and Into the Light, released by Lucid Books, is more than a memoir; it is a lifeline for caregivers and families grappling with unexplained medical conditions and the emotional toll of relentless advocacy.
Neyer's mother wore sunglasses indoors because light had become unbearable. She descended into what Neyer describes as unrecognized catatonia, a state where she was physically present but mentally absent. For nearly a decade, the family sought answers while her mother retreated further into darkness. "I did not set out to become an author," Neyer says. "I set out to survive a season that felt impossible. For eight and a half years I watched my mother disappear into an illness no doctor could name, and I realized that if I did not write it down, the world might never know what she went through."
The book does not shy away from the grim realities of caregiving. Neyer became her mother's voice when her mother could not advocate for herself, navigating medical uncertainty, exhaustion, and fear. "Most miracle stories begin with the miracle and work backward," Neyer explains. "This one makes you live through every year of the darkness before you get there." That darkness lifted when her mother received Ativan and woke from the catatonic state. Her mother later said, "I did die. And God brought me back."
Neyer's decision to write the full story, including the painful parts, was deliberate. "The reader who is sitting in their own dark room right now does not need a polished version of suffering," she says. "They need the truth." The book includes four interviews with key witnesses, a scientific summary of catatonia, Scripture, and appendices specifically for caregivers and those supporting loved ones. This blend of faith, medical insight, and raw testimony sets it apart from traditional inspirational memoirs.
For Neyer, the journey was transformative. She describes the writing process as "Witness. Endure. Return." She witnessed her mother's suffering, endured revisiting the dark years, and returned to hope and a tested faith. Her mother is alive, participated in the book, and together they are making up for lost time. Neyer hopes the book will help others feel seen and encourage those fighting misdiagnoses to keep asking questions. "I hope anyone who has ever loved someone through a darkness that has no name finds language for what they have been carrying," she says.
Lucid Books, an independent hybrid publisher in the Houston area, released the book. As a partnership publisher, Lucid Books offers the connections and expertise of a traditional publisher with the author involvement of a self-publisher. For more information, visit lucidbookspublishing.com.
