We're half way there - pin back your ears...
Hold My Hand: A Journey Back to Life
If you missed the previous chapters of Hold My Hand: A Journey Back to Life then you click here - Hold My Hand - The Book - to catch up on any chapters that you haven’t read before continuing.
If you’d like to know a little more about me then head here… Oops! I forgot to introduce myself…
If you have never heard of necrotizing fasciitis aka flesh eating bacteria then please do go and read this post - it may help save your life or someone else’s one day… NECK-re-tie-zing FASH-e-i-tis... Say what?!
As always - thank you for reading (and listening)!
And that’s it. We’re at the end of Part I: My Story that documents the first two weeks of insanity after I got sick. We’re 12 chapters in and there’s 12 more to go. The opening Prologue has just surpassed 500 views - my first post to reach that level and Chapter 1: Out of Nowhere is close behind it.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading along and especially to those who have liked and commented on my posts - it means so much.
And another thank you to all those who have sent me personal messages, by a variety of means, expressing their support for what I’ve been through and in some cases sharing their own stories.
To me this first part of the book just states the facts of what happened to me between 22nd December 2022 through to 4th January 2023. But I can appreciate that the story I’ve told has hit hard and been very emotive for some people.
Some of those closest to me haven’t been able to read more than a few lines - it’s just too painful to revisit what happened. Others have found that my story has brought up emotions related to their own traumatic life events, that in some instances happened many years ago.
From next week I’ll move on to publishing the next 12 chapters. Part II: A Journey Back to Life chronicles my recovery over the subsequent two years. This time in the form of essays and short stories focused on ten specific topics related to both the physical and mental recovery from this type of trauma.
The penultimate chapter then dives into the science of necrotizing fasciitis, its causes, diagnosis, and treatment. And the closing epilogue finishes the book with a letter to myself in ten years time - full of everything that I’ve learned and the things that I want to remember in terms of how to live my life going forwards.
Image caption: my ear! Darn, I have funny shape ears - I’ve never looked at them that close up before. Why did I think this picture was a good idea?
Oh yes, and then there’s the BIG NEWS!
Over the past week or two I’ve been working in stealth mode to add my own voiceover to each of the Hold My Hand chapters that have been published so far. It feels incredibly important to me for people to be able to hear me tell my story. Even though I still sound about 12 years old to me!
Each recording has been done in a single take so please excuse the odd small fluff. The chapter where I had a major coughing fit 13 minutes into a half hour recording was re-recorded! By hearing my voice I hope that you’ll also be able to spot the little dashes of humor that may have been lost when just reading the written word.
Image caption: me in my improvised recording studio! Even with a good microphone my office still sounds hollow due to the tiled floor, mostly unadorned walls, and blinds rather than curtains. So I added a duvet, stolen from our guest room, to try and soften the sound and get rid of that darn echo. I have to admit it gets a bit hot and sweaty under there!
I have updated the post for each chapter and added my own voiceover. Please note that if you’re using the Substack app on an Android device you need to click on the voiceover in the post itself as there seems to be an issue with my version replacing the automated Substack version correctly - I hope that the Substack folks will solve that glitch in their programming soon.
Tomorrow I’ll also be dropping an ‘audio book’ post that will bring together the audio files for all the chapters thus far. You can use that as a one stop shop to listen to the Prologue and all of the chapters in Part I of the book.
Going forwards, as I’ve done today, I’ll be adding audio to each new post so you can listen along if you prefer to have me chuntering away in your ear instead of reading.
With that I’ll leave you in peace for this week. Make the most of it! I’ve really enjoyed being a recording artiste these past couple of weeks. So I’ll definitely be spending more time at my desk buried under that duvet!
THANK YOU AGAIN for all your support,
Jacqui
aka superhero Thunder Thighs! (If you haven’t read Chapter 10 about how my generous thighs saved me from skin grafts that would have changed my life forever then hit the link.)
Image caption: my superhero persona according to ChatGPT.
If this post made you feel something then I’d love it if you would click on the heart and add a comment about what resonated for you – it means a lot to me to hear from each of you.
If you would also be kind enough to share it that will help more people find Hold My Hand and learn more about these awful infections. Maybe one day that knowledge will save a life.
Thank you!
If you missed any previous chapters from the book then you can find them easily on my website – click HERE and it will take you directly to the webpage dedicated to the book where you can read any that you might have missed.
Every THURSDAY I’ll continue to share my ‘book in parts’ - Hold My Hand: A Journey Back to Life - chapter by chapter. I’m so excited to share it with all of you.
Next week I’ll be posting first chapter of Part II A Journey Back to Life - Chapter 12. ALIEN WORLD. The joy of being out of hospital and getting home evaporated before it even started.
Well done. I’ve only managed one voiceover and I also sound 12, I can’t listen to it , I cringe 😂 even though I’ve been told I have a nice voice. I may try again one day.
big fan of writers reading ...