Book Launch and Thank You...

Since I released my memoir 'Life is for the Living' in time for Valentine's Day a few weeks ago, my feet have hardly touched the ground!

It was a huge relief to press the 'publish' button at long last after months of writing and editing, but with that came the nerves and apprehension a little too. This is my very first book that I've written and self-published and the whole process is completely new to me and still a learning curve. I had said to my husband, 'Do you think anyone will really want to read this?' He'd replied, 'Well it doesn't really matter, as it's an achievement for you anyway and has been both a learning and therapeutic process for you.' I was happy with that, but thought it might be good if I could sell at least a hundred copies, as after all it is about raising awareness of causes dear to my heart and also hopefully raising money from the proceeds for charity. 

But it's been a totally overwhelming response to date, I reached my milestone of a hundred book sales surprisingly after the first week or so following it's release and then I had a 'Book Launch' celebration, again to help promote the causes of Pulmonary Hypertension and Organ Donation and I actually sold over another hundred books - in fact I ran out, which I couldn't quite believe.

We had a raffle at the book launch event to help raise funds for a transplant support group that a group of us are setting up at my hospital, Papworth. Our group was given two very generous donations at the event, so with the raffle proceeds as well, we now have enough funding for our room hire costs, equipment and enough to keep us up and running for a while. 

Besides this, the proceeds from the book sales amounted to £750 because people were so generous and many donated extra to the cost of the book and I was also given another very kind donation to add to this, so we ended up with £1000 to be shared - as explained in the book - between the PHAUK, Papworth PH Matters Support Group, Papworth Hospital Charity and Papworth Transplant Patients Representative Group. Rob and I were just truly overwhelmed at everyone's generosity, kindness and good wishes. I will be distributing the funds this week when I visit Papworth and sending a cheque to the PHAUK. I can't say thank you enough to everyone that came and supported us. 

Since then, Rob and I have also been overwhelmed with positive messages and emails about the book, again I can't thank you all enough for your encouraging words, feedback and support. It's difficult to relay all the comments on here, but here are a few just to give you a flavour, especially if you're still thinking about whether you might like to read it: 

'It is such a good and gripping read that it should benefit the PH world - but also be a great read for all different people of all walks of life.' B

'It is a thoroughly inspiring piece of literature'. S

'Oh goodness tears before I even got onto your story. It is brilliant! So well written, I'm having trouble putting it down..' K

'I can relate so much of what you wrote from your love of Earl Grey tea to the hallucinations of intensive care...' C

'It's a fantastic read and you should feel very proud of it  ... I have made a donation to Papworth in lieu of the book'. M

'What a powerful story...' M

'Thank you for putting into words EXACTLY how I felt both pre and post diagnosis of IPAH. The feelings of despair, the guilt, the unknown, everything... M

'Only half way through but going through every emotion ... a very human book that resonates on different levels... you know what I'm doing over the weekend, reading!' S

I want to thank everyone who has given me some lovely reviews on Amazon too. The reviews on Amazon can help boost sales, as if there are over twenty reviews, Amazon will start to advertise the book. This can help reach out to new audiences and raise more awareness of both Pulmonary Hypertension and Organ Donation. The more sales, the more money accumulates to donate to PHAUK and Papworth Hospital Charity and both the PH and Transplant support groups at Papworth. So it's well worth taking time to write a review if you would like to support any of these causes. 

'Life is for the Living' is available on Amazon, both in Kindle format (£3.99) and paperback (£8.99), the link is below. 

Purchase Book - Amazon Link

I also hadn't anticipated the need for 'signed' copies and have now set up a PayPal service should you wish to purchase a signed book, these are £10.99 inc standard post and packaging, please private message me via Facebook, Twitter or email (website) should you wish to do so. 

Website: Links to Facebook, Twitter, E-mail

I just want to say another massive THANK YOU for all your donations, messages and support! 

Thank You

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! 

This blog is a massive big thank you to everyone who has supported me and helped to get me this far.

It has been seven weeks now since my transplant, although it still all feels very new, and time is racing on towards Christmas.  I've been in Papworth just for a couple of days for a six week check to make sure that everything is still going well. At this stage they always check to see how things are healing and that there are no signs of rejection and I'm delighted that my lung biopsy shows no signs of rejection so far. Things are healing pretty well, but they are still going to keep a close watch as I still have a few problems, although we are expecting them to resolve as time goes on. I'm happy they are monitoring things so closely, it is very reassuring. I have been given a week off clinic and don't have to go back to hospital for two whole weeks, which is brilliant news.

Obviously my family had waited with baited breath to hear if all was good news and I would like to thank all of them for their unstinting support, which just goes on and on. Thank you Rob, Sarah, Rose, Oli and David and thanks to my mum, my sister Jayne and her family and my brother Paul and his family. Also thanks to all my wider family and friends of my family, who sent messages of support and followed my progress and supported my family when things were difficult for them. 

I was admiitted back on to Duchess Ward last week and felt like I had come back home after being on various wards all over the hospital. Duchess Ward is where I used to stay while the PH team looked after me and I feel I know everyone and they know me. It was so nice to see everyone and they made me so welcome and wanted to hear all about my transplant and how I was getting on. 

So I will go on to thank the staff at Papworth. There are so many staff to thank, starting with the PH team and staff on Duchess Ward who looked after me for more than three years. Then there is the Transplant Team, who monitored my progress carefully for the last two years, helped me and my family through the transplant operation and are continuing to care for me now. There is also the highly skilled surgical team, who undertook the operation, and then there are the wonderful teams on the Intensive Care Ward and Mallard Ward, who looked after me post transplant, along with the physio team, radiologists, dieticians, phlebotomists and respiratory team. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone and I know I can't ever thank them all enough for their care and all they have done for me. 

The response from all our friends when I had my transplant has been overwhelming and again, I don't really know where to start thanking everyone for their endless stream of good wishes, cards, presents, plants, flowers and the constant and never ending messages of support. Your support has really helped carry me through all this, how could I ever have got down for even one minute when your messages of support just kept coming and coming? Your support has just spurred me on and on and still does. So thank you to all my friends, old friends, new friends, PH friends and transplant friends, for just encouraging me on and on and helping me to get this far. You really did help me and have given me more determination to keep getting better and better. Even this morning, yet another bouquet of flowers arrived and more cards, just when I was feeling a little sore, tired and sorry for myself after being prodded and poked in hospital for a few days. So, once again, the 'sorry for myself' bit was very short lived and after a good rest I'm now back on the case of the mammoth Christmas shopping and wrapping expedition! 

Of course I now come to my donor and their caring family, who made the bravest decision anyone can ever make and gave me the greatest gift ever, the gift of a new and transformed life. A life now full of hope and dreams for the future and a life that has already begun to change markedly for the better even in this early stage. There isn't a day goes by where I don't think of them all and what they have given me. Sometimes I will just be doing something very ordinary and then it will suddenly strike me what an extraordinary thing has just happened to me and I have to stop and pinch myself that I have been given this new chance in life. The ordinary versus the extraordinary, sometimes I feel like a walking miracle and I cannot quite believe my transplant has actually happened. There is just such a wide gulf between being abe to get on with and live ordinary every day life and what has just happened. There just aren't words that can ever express my gratitude or my family's gratitude for this wonderful gift. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!