Suzanne Somers - TOX-SICK: From Toxic to Not Sick

So many people make a book: the publisher, the editor, the doctors, the scientists, my staff, my family, and more.

My editor, Heather Jackson, is the best in the business. We have done seven books together and each time our rapport gets smoother and our methods faster. She sees what I dont; she has the gift of structure and organization, moving the puzzle around, creating and making order so readers queries all get answered. She does this by questioning me. She is tough yet easy. She is sweet yet strong. She is above all extremely talented and I am grateful once again to have her on my team, and she came up with this amazing title.

Cant expect people to read a book if they dont know its out there. Thats where Sandi Mendelson comes in, my publicist extraordinaire. We have done eighteen books together, and with so many bestsellers under my belt I have to thank Sandi for corralling the media, cherry-picking the best, and booking those with the most coverage, never wasting my time, and allowing me to present my hard work in a way that gives each book the widest exposure not just nationally but globally. As a result my books are in print all over the world. There is no one better than Sandi and shes a cool chick too, which makes touring so much fun with her.

My literary lawyer, Marc Chamlin, is always on scene, protecting, negotiating, making sure all the legalities are perfectly lined up. We have done ten books together and Im sure there will be ten more.

Thanks to Dave Henson, my IT computer troubleshooter.

Bill Faloon and the scientific advisory board are of invaluable assistance in the writing of all my books, this one being no exception. They make sure I can never be stupid. Im not a doctor, so I rely on interviews and research for my information. The scientific advisory board at Life Extension goes over each page with a fine-tooth comb, finding any inaccuracies. At times we have differences of opinion and it is at those times we hash it out until we all feel comfortable. They also provided their own chapter of supplements for survival that will prove invaluable to the reader. Thanks to:

Bill Faloon, editor of Life Extension magazine and founder of Life Extension Foundation; Blake Gossard; Kira Schmid, ND; Lori Feldman, RD, CCRC; Richard Stein, MD, PhD; Daniel Heller, ND; Emily Gonzalez, ND; Luke Huber, ND, MBA.

Thank you to Jim England, president of my company, The Somers Companies, and Caroline Somers, executive vice president of The Somers Companies, who is also head of branding and marketing. She works closely with our in-house graphics designer, Danielle Shapero, to create my beautiful book jackets as well as all branding design. Together Danielle and Caroline came up with the brilliant jacket design. Between the two of them and a lot of back-and-forth with me, they were able to design a jacket that subliminally conveys my message: Toxins kill! Brilliant!

President and publisher, Maya Mavjee; Aaron Wehner, senior vice president and publisher; Diana Baroni, editorial director and vice president; Christine Tanigawa, production editor of my last six books; Debbie Glasserman, interior designer; Jessica Morphew, Harmony art director; Candace Chaplin and Christine Edwards in sales; and Tammy Blake in publicitymy deepest appreciation to all of my team at Crown.

Thank you to Mooney for my hairstyles and to the girls in the office: Julie Turkel, my fabulous assistant, and Jordyn Goodmanwe will miss you.

And now, my family, an integral part of this book; their stories, heartbreaking though they may be, were told to me with total candor and honesty. All of them have been tenacious and focused on getting well from an environment that is trying to do them in.

My husband, Alan Hamel, is my everything. He runs the businesses and directs all the departments. Hes always got my back. We are partners in the truest sense of the word. To say I love and appreciate him does not seem to cover it. But in this book, he vulnerably tells his story of black mold and the years it took to clear. He has faithfully practiced his protocols under the guidance of Dr. Nick Gonzalez, a feat that is daunting to most doctors.

My granddaughters Camelia and Violet have both fought this invisible enemy and did what they had to do to get well. It hasnt been easy but, as you will read, they did it. Violet was so hard hit that she missed crucial months of school because mold, Lyme, and toxins grabbed her health. I get teary-eyed when I see her functioning, catching up, and upbeat about having fought her internal enemy and knowing that she is winning.

Caroline Somers, their mother, and Bruce Somers, my son and their father, both have a story to tell from the perspective of what these mystery diseases do to the family unit, including worry, and a loss of safety because the planet has betrayed them. Theirs is a story of hard work, tenacity, lots of anxiety, and winning. And Leslie, my daughter by marriage, who seemingly overnight lost control of her body, not knowing the culprit but knowing that nothing about her life and health was the same. Many are going to see what is wrong with them through her saga.