A whole new world - learning resilience

 Staying in hospital for a long time is a whole new world. You tend to wonder what the outside world looks like, well I did. I briefly mention in my memoir each view I got with different hospitals I stayed in last year. The recent snow in the UK (nowhere near as bad as the US) reminded me of my stay in Lewisham Hospital during the Beast from the East 2. The whole park outside was white, and the houses in the distance were too. It's why I don't like snow that much now. I got another glimpse of the outside world when I was transported from one hospital to the next. Each time I was I said to myself, 'Oh, so that's what the outside looks like.' I am not sure how I managed to cope with going from hospital to hospital last year. All I know is that I just went with it. Probably knowing that I needed to go to one for this to happen, and the next for something else to happen for me. Maybe deep down all I wanted was to get better so I could go home.

It was night time, so dark, when I finally got home end of March 2021, so I couldn't see outside properly, as I knew it. I didn't see it again until the next day, and boy was I pleased to, especially my street and my garden. The familiarity was a balm to me after all the noise and busyness of hospitals. Two weeks later, when my mum came home from hospital herself, it was to lead to another new world for me, and one that took my resilience to another level.

Want a bit of magic in your life?

 

Yes, I think we all need a bit of magic in our lives at times, especially during tough periods. I for one feel that I do a lot of the time now. It is why I haven 't been here a lot this year as I have had a lot of personal and upsetting days especially since the end of August when my mum passed away in hospital. With Christmas coming up, it will be harder still for me as it will be the first Christmas without her.

Anyway, here is a bit of magic for you to read, especially for us authors. I have a short story in this anthology 'Modern Magic' called 'The Dragon Pen' which helps an author meet her deadline. Don't we all want one of those. It is available to order as an ebook or paperback here https://books2read.com/u/mvXpQz

Have fun reading it all.

Billy is having a book tour

 Who is Billy, you might ask? He is Billy from my first Rainbow School children's book called 'Billy and the Sparkling Socks.' He, and the others in the series, are all in stock at a bookshop called The Book Dragon based in Stockton on Tees. This week Billy's story is having a book tour. There is a great window display promoting the book (check the website www.thebookdragon.co.uk) and see for yourself. So far this week reviewers have mentioned their favourite quotes and character summaries from the book. Here are a few

Quotes: 

“I am good at something!” Billy shouted. He stood up, scraping his chair back. “What?” Casper challenged him. “Don’t know. I will find out.” (Andrew Bell)

Even though his socks hadn’t acted strange, he had done amazing things today. (Deborah Barwick)
“So my motto is, to find out what makes you happy and what you can be good at and work on that. Only then will you be happy with who you are.” (Tania Marshall)

Character summaries

Billy is a delightful young boy who blossoms throughout the course of the story. Initially he feels frustrated by the limitations he feels due to his condition of Autism. He has an older brother who seems to be good at everything and classmates that make fun of him. As he starts to focus on what he can do and where his talents lie, a transformation starts to happen. By looking for the positives and gaining confidence and faith in his abilities, he starts to shine and gain respect from his mother, teachers and  peers. I felt moved by Billy’s realisation that what he really lacked was self-belief and the courage to be who he truly was. As this dawns on him he starts to fly and fulfill his full potential. I could just picture him telling his stories in class and I could relate to the joy he felt from creating them, as I too loved to do this as a child. I loved how Billy showed warmth and kindness to others, even though he hadn’t always received them himself. He’s willing to help out his brother when he starts to struggle, despite how his brother has mocked him for his own difficulties in the past. (Michelle Marshall)

I related with the character, Billy. Being disabled myself, I know just how hard it is to find something you’re good at. Also, being disabled I can relate how hard it is to fit in, I know what it’s like to be laughed at, I also know the challenge of finding something you’re good at. Being autistic, Billy would’ve had a much bigger challenge in this. I was so impressed with his finding that he could tell stories, act them out, and make people laugh. He didn’t think Miss Murray and his classmates were laughing at him. Good job, Billy! (Deb Hockenberry)

So, I hope that the above will get you interested to either read the book yourself, or buy it for a small relative (7-9) that might want to read it for Christmas. There are now three places you can buy the books: The Book Dragon shop (in store or on line), Amazon or my website. 

Me and my heart

 Thursday 29 September (two days ago) was World Heart Awareness Day, it also happened to be my mum's funeral. My heart was aching with grief then and still is. 

Although a lot of bad stuff happened to me as I have put in my memoir 'Endocarditis - My Journey' there is one good thing that came from it. Here is what I wrote near the end of the book.

On the good side is that when I had the surgery, I also had my VSD closed, and having that done and/or what I had been through on my own made me able to go to all these hospital appointments on my own, something I had never done before. I feel that it is probably more to do with having the VSD closed that's made me like I am now. I was quiet and not so confident before the surgery, but after it I was able to speak out more, and go to these appointments by myself.

I still believe that this is true. I recall when I was in hospital, maybe because I was feeling very weak still, that I didn't want to walk too far in case I got lost. When I get lost, I get flustered and can have a meltdown. Since I came home last year I have been to many hospital appointments; at Lewisham Hospital, Guy's, and St Thomas's Hospitals. All to different departments and different buildings and zones. Before I had the surgery, I feel there would have been no way that I would have coped doing that on my own. It is a case of having to now, being on my own.

Onwards and upwards I say.

If you would like to read a 'very honest and inspiring' book then my memoir is available here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Endocarditis-My-Journey-Julie-Day-ebook/dp/B0B8VT2X1H

Endocarditis - My Journey

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B8VT2X1H

I tried to post above the cover image for my memoir but it wouldn't let me for some reason, so I have put the link instead. 

I know we are all feeling such sorrow at the moment (me more than most as my mum passed away in hospital the end of August) after the Queen dying. I thought I would post something could, and that is a review of my memoir all about coping and surviving endocarditis (infection of the heart).

AUTHOR- Julie Day
PUBLISHER- Happy Day Press
PUBLISHED ON- 5th Aug, 2022
GENRE- Autobiography
RATING- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

" ENDOCARDITIS IS ALIVE AND WELL, UNFORTUNATELY "

ABOUT AUTHOR- Julie Day writes realism for adults and children featuring helpful ghosts and magical things.

BOOK DESCRIPTION- Julie's Journey of endocarditis from symptoms to recovery.

BOOK REVIEW-

Book is the Journey of Author's serious heart illness and her struggle to recover it. Endocarditis is a heart disease when bacteria or other germs enter the bloodstream and travel to heart to stick to damaged heart valves or tissues. It is rare and potentially fatal infection of endocardium.

On the basis of rough statistics, the mortality rate of endocardium is 29% and this issue of concern.
Endocarditis has challenged clinicians for centuries. Despite recent advances in diagnosis $ therapy, the risks of major complications $ death remain unacceptably high. This is a major public health problem. The solution to this conundrum is not easy. It is unlikely that we will be able to eradicate this illness at any time in the near future. However, we can certainly make greater efforts and prevention.

Julie shared her journey of symptoms like weight loss, muscle pain, tiredness, breathlessness,chills $ many more from 2020 to 2021. Struggle she faced throughout the recovery process, the tests, the hospital stays and switchs, the surgery, post recovery at hospital $ home. All during pandemic which turned her life upside down. She inspires all of us to cope any situation and book guides anyone who wants to learn about heart condition personally or medically.

You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life. Just because you can't control what life throws at you doesn't mean you can't control how you handle it and this is very well thought by Julie in her book.

To author- The strongest hearts have the most scars.
I'm glad I came across this inspiring journey.
SALUTE TO AUTHOR FOR HER BRAVERY 🙌

************************************
JOURNEY | STRUGGLE | INSPIRING
************************************

I hope inspires you to want to read this too. 

I have a question to ask you all. I am planning to create a talk with a workshop based on this, and am wondering what you would like to learn or know either about endocarditis and/or coping with a serious illness. Please let me know in the comments so I can work on this talk. Thanks.

Books at Beckenham - Meet local authors

 

If you are in or around Beckenham this Sunday, come and meet some local authors including me. As well as books being sold, there will be hopefully a storytime happening for children aged six upwards. I will be there selling my children's books and my new memoir 'Endocarditis - My Journey' all at special prices. You will get a free coloured paper bag of your choice (blue, black, green or red) and a bookmark to go with the memoir. Here is an excerpt of my memoir: 

September 2020

I can't remember what happened in this month, except I was still losing weight. It might have been this month that I started to experience another unpleasant symptom. I have never liked finding loose hairs in places they shouldn't be such as on soap bars or places where I eat. I can't recall how it started, but one day I found a loose hair and OMG, I felt ill! I wanted to be sick. I actually retched. This would happen quite often, and on a few occasions I was actually sick. I hated it. It put me off my food if I found one on the table as I was about to eat. I googled this. There is a name for it, but I can't recall it. What I do remember seeing is that one of the causes was infection. I didn't think anything of it. When I mentioned it to my mum, she said that she used to be like that when she was younger, so I thought that I had taken after her, like with a lot of other things. I didn't know that it was part and parcel, as they say, of a bigger health issue.

I hope to see lots of people there. 

What happened to me in 2020 and 2021

 So what happened to me in 2020 and 2021? What did endocarditis do to me? Find out in my memoir 'Endocarditis - My Journey- either as an ebook or paperback here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Endocarditis-My-Journey-Julie-Day-ebook/dp/B0B8VT2X1H

I can reveal that it was a shock to me what happened, and it still makes me emotional when I think about it. I can also reveal that the heart beat line on the cover runs through the book, and the colours of blue and red have a meaning which is on page 110.

The ebook is also available from all good ebook platforms.

I hope you like my writing.

Aspie and change number two

 Sorry I haven't been on here lately. So much has happened since Mum came home in June after her stroke. She was more subdued and quieter than before. Then a couple of weeks ago she caught a chest infection leading to sepsis. She is on the mend now and possibly coming home sometime next week.

Anyway, coming home from hospital was the next change in my life. I would be on my own as Mum was still in hospital herself then. Time to recuperate by myself. One change that was immediate was the layout of downstairs. Mum and I both had our beds brought downstairs by my brother. Here is what I wrote in my memoir coming soon.

 Alone, I sat down, put my head in my hands and said, “I'm home.” It was a different home to when I had left back in February. The living room was now a cum-bedroom with both my and my mum's beds in there. The sofa was now in the dining room with Mum's clothes on it. The dining table had been dismantled and put upstairs. All done by Ian. What an amazing brother!

The second change was me having carers coming in to help me. I never thought I'd have carers, not until I was older anyway. It helped me a lot. But being on my own, having to do things by myself, was a major change for me. It was the longest I had been on my own in the house for ages. Up until then the longest I had been on my own was a weekend in 2016 when Mum was in hospital. It really helped me find my feet, and I feel now that it stood me in good stead for future times when I have to be on my own, like now. At least I know now that I can and am able to live on my own when the time comes, which I know it will sooner than later.

Aspies and change

One thing that people with Asperger's find hard to cope with is change. Well, I certainly went through a lot of that last year when I went into hospital. That was the first major change to my life. I think it helped me because I knew in advance (the day before) that I was going in, and I knew that I had to go as it would help me and my health. Then came more change as I went from one hospital to another to find out what was wrong with me. Again I knew it was to help find out what was wrong with me. I somehow managed to cope with all of that change until there was one change too many for me. I have described it my memoir like this

 I went from the quiet of ICU to the noise, lights and busyness of Doulton High Dependency Unit. The contrast was amazing. One thing us Aspies do find hard to cope with is change. This change was hard for me. I had coped well with going into hospital, then from one hospital to another and another, but this was something else. I think now it was that plus being in a strange environment that made me unable to sleep for three nights.

Once I got used to the routines and everything happening to me in that ward, I calmed down.

There was more change to come when I got home, and then Mum came home too. I shall tell you about that in the next post.

Happy May Day holiday

 To all of you who read this from the UK, Happy May Bank Holiday. The sun might not be out but at least it's not raining, yet. 

Sorry I've not been on here recently but life gets busy when you're a carer for your parent who's bedbound and has dementia, and has their own health matters to deal with including lots of appointments to attend. Thankfully the appointments seem to have decreased at the moment now that I've been out of hospital over a year. Where did that year go?

So, what have I been up to? Well, I have recently published a children's colouring book to go with my Rainbow School children's series. It's an A-Z of Autism and you can find it here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rainbow-School-Autism-Colouring-Book/dp/1915114012.

Also, I have had a short story accepted for an anthology about modern magic in life. My first story in an anthology and I am super excited about it. It means that my writing has merit with someone else. I will let you know when that comes out. It won't be yet as there will be edits to work on and then a contract to sign.

I am also working on my memoir still about having endocarditis. I am reading through it to make sure there aren't any more things I can remember to add in it. Then I will check through it with my diaries and calendars. I hope to have that out by September. The cozy mystery I hope to have finished and ready to publish for Christmas.

Meanwhile I am going to Sydenham library most weeks to take part in craft lessons, and have copies of my books with me. So, if you are near there on a Thursday lunch time, then come and say hello.

I think that is my current news for now. Any more and I will let you know, sooner than later.