Written by a friend
The story starts in 2012, when Stephen Sadler, the author of Mindset Abaddon, completely ripped his bicep off running an obstacle race (Tough Mudder). At the time he was 48 and fairly healthy, so it was chalked up to a fluke accident. Then in 2013, his right knee went out and he had to have surgery. Again, thought nothing of it. In early 2014, he then ripped his tricep off playing ice hockey from a very simple fall. However, this injury stopped him from doing everything, including full-time work. As he tried to rehab his arm after another surgery, Stephen’s eyes started to lose focus at far distances combined with hallucinations. Now 50, he just thought it was a part of aging.
Six months later, Stephen started to have more hallucinations and out of body type experiences that put him in the hospital for four days. After a battery of tests for petite mal seizures, everything came back normal and they sent him home. Another month passed and he was back at the optometrist still complaining about his eyes and wondering if they were causing his hallucinations. Even though his eyes were slightly vertically misaligned, she also noticed that his eyes had different readings every time he came in. Based on his history of contact sports, motorcycles, etc. she sent him to see a neurologist.
By the time Stephen got in to see the neurologist, his symptoms were becoming very serious. After a quick diagnosis, the neurologist sent him over to a Detroit-based endocrinologist, who handles concussions for professional football and hockey players (Detroit Lions / Detroit Red Wings). After a four hour blood test the endocrinologist diagnosed Stephen with Hypopituitarism (A.K.A. Secondary Addison’s Disease), which apparently JFK also had. His hormonal levels, especially cortisol and GH were almost non-existent, and he was told by the endocrinologist that if they didn’t get it turned around he only had about four to six months left to live.
This disease side-lined Stephen for two years. Losing your body functions is not fun, but losing your mind is very scary to say the least. The medication the endocrinologist prescribed changed his life in so many ways and he almost has his mind and vision back to normal. Yes, he still has his days, however, being a believer in Christ, he feels very blessed to have a second chance at life.
But this is where the story gets interesting.
Stephen has always been a curious person and some of his hallucinations were unbelievably real. So during his illness, he started to write what he was experiencing and the end result was very unusual. Somehow, even while injured, his brain was able to connect beyond his own consciousness and create a story. He used many of his own wild out of body experiences to write the Mindset Abaddon novel, which was published in 2015. It’s so strange, because now when Stephen reads Mindset Abaddon, he says it feels like he didn’t even write it. Sounds crazy but it’s true. He definitely believes we are not disconnected beings and that our brains are connected to God through external dimensions.
Author Stephen Sadler 