Book Description

Step inside the mind of 'Ben', an open heart surgery patient, as he takes the journey from initial diagnosis through lying on the slab, his heart literally in somebody else’s hands, and the subsequent roller-coaster of emotions as he seeks 'recovery'. Share his hopes, expectations, frustrations, joy, laughter, camaraderie and loneliness as he takes the journey. Written for the hundreds of thousands of people who will find themselves in a similar position each year. You are not alone. After the initial shock of being told that he needed open heart surgery, his thoughts quickly turned to practical matters. He was self-employed and so lived by the “No show, no dough” edict. Not working could quickly have repercussions that he needed to plan for. He wanted to be able to give people who would be affected some sort of an idea of what to expect while he recovered. And recover he would. He had no doubt about that. When you have an idea of what to expect, you can handle adversity a whole lot more effectively. All he needed was to have general guidelines to three simple questions: - What should he expect? - What could he do to speed up a recovery? - And how long was he really likely to be out of action for? He expected standard answers to be readily available. The success rate was encouragingly high – way over ninety per cent - and it was performed hundreds of thousands of times a year around the globe. It would be bizarre if there wasn’t a well-established set of standards by now. But there wasn’t. Or at least there wasn’t one he could find, no matter how hard he looked. And the more he looked and asked for it, the more vague was the answer. “It’s complicated. It depends.” Feedback from readers and reviewers include heart-warming comments about how the story has helped to explain events affecting loved ones that they were ‘protected’ from when they were small children. "This book is brilliant. It takes you through so many emotions and you get a real insight into not only how the patient feels but also what the family goes through during times like this. Suitable for people before an op, post op as well as friends and family going through this ordeal, but also a great read in general! The emotions hit hard in some places, but at the same time provides a lot of entertainment! A must read for everyone!!" “This will be immensely reassuring to anyone going through this experience.” “Enthralling. I didn’t want to put it down. Everyone knows somebody who has had similar fears.” “Hugely encouraging and enlightening.” “Great to highlight this, so other families will know what to expect.” “Breaks down so many unknowns” “I was hooked after the first few pages” “I do believe this would help enormously” “As a story I was eager to find out what lay ahead in the journey; as an education I was keen to get a better understanding to the whole experience, and having read it I feel like I would have so much more empathy / be more effective” “Read it right through in one sitting” “I'm not too proud to admit that I shed a tear reading it”