Universal Pictures has announced that it has closed a seven-figure deal to adapt the novel Breathe Deeply for the big screen. Breathe Deeply received a $2.3 million publishing deal from Harper Collins.

The upcoming book is a memoir in which authors Susan Spencer-Wendel and Bret Witter tell the story of Spencer-Wendel’s struggle with ALS (better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease).

Universal bought the book without first assigning a producer to the material, just as it did when it purchased the rights to Fifty Shades of Grey.

Spencer-Wendel, a court reporter for the Palm Beach Post, was diagnosed with ALS at age 44. The disease destroys the nerves that power muscles including the lungs.

Already dealing with the effects of the disease, Spencer Wendel hurried to write what she called in her proposal “a book about living.”

“It is hard to get through the 12-page proposal without getting misty,” Deadline reported. “She wants to leave behind a record of a life well lived, and achieve a few more experiences before it becomes too difficult for her.”

Spencer-Wendel has a husband and a 14-year-old daughter.

In this Wall Street Journal article, she revealed that she is trying to create as many memories as she can with her daughter before she is gone.

Among her plans is a trip for the teen to try on dresses at Kleinfeld’s, the New York bridal shop in which TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress” is filmed. Spencer-Wendel said the plan was always for her daughter to purchase a Kleinfeld dress for her wedding, so she will leave behind the money so her sister can buy a dream dress there when her daughter is ready to be married.

The author will soon lose the power of speech, according to Deadline, but she is determined to finish her 240-page memoir by October, even if she will need special equipment to record her words by following her eye movements.