HAND ON HEART - Softcover

Trevor, to all intents and purposes a fit, healthy 50 year old, living the dream Down Under, was suddenly struck down by chronic heart disease. After emergency treatment, followed by a lengthy stay in a Sydney hospital, he made a good recovery, and with the aid of medication returned to an active life even resuming his passion for scuba-diving. A few years later, he was reacquainted with Nicola with whom he’d had a relationship over twenty years earlier. Tragically, she’d recently lost her husband to an aggressive brain tumour. Trevor and Nicola fell quickly back into their familiar repartee and verve for life, and recognising their growing love he returned to live with her in the UK. A year or so later, Trevor’s overall condition worsened following a chest infection. This pattern continued over the next twelve months or so: a step down being taken each time he suffered from any virus. A month after their marriage in 2015, the couple learnt that without a heart transplant Trevor would die. He was referred for assessment at The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. After navigating a series of challenging hurdles, the decision was taken that he would be placed on the UK’s urgent heart transplant list and admitted to hospital to wait and hope that a suitable organ became available. As the weeks and months went by, Nicola found herself staring further and further down the barrel of another departed spouse. Throughout their journey, Trevor and Nicola each record their reflections in daily journals. Initially this was intended as a purely cathartic exercise, but as they progress through a well-intentioned but convoluted healthcare system, they both recognise the uniqueness of their insights. As well as the views of a dying patient living on ‘life row,’ Trevor also records his insights from the perspective of a specialist in Organisation Development, with twenty years’ experience in managing change and creating positive work environments. Nicola, meanwhile, shares her experience from the perspective of a carer, and also a qualified nurse whose career involved a variety of senior management roles in the NHS; with experience in clinical audit and process re-engineering as well as general management. The narrative will appeal as a human interest story - the human spirit in adversity with all its associated learnings - to the general public, organ transplant patients, and those caring for a loved one with chronic illness. It also offers NHS professionals, working at all levels, a unique insight into the paradox of this discordant body.