The author of this book has a rare infection of her lungs that now benefits from over forty years of research into diagnostic techniques and several new antifungal drugs compared with the 1970's, which is when this book begins.
Unfortunately at the beginning of her story aspergillosis was an extremely difficult infection to detect with many far more likely possible diagnoses to contend with and be eliminated over what can become a long period of time, passing through the hands of many different specialist doctors.
This book is her compelling and informative story of her struggles to find out what was wrong with her health and serves to inform us all, doctors, patients and carers, that we must never give up searching for the right diagnosis and never give up on listening to the patient.
The Health Service of today in the UK is a very different organisation compared to that in the 1970's, but detection of aspergillosis remains difficult and there is no cure for many of the forms of this infection. The UK now has the NHS National Aspergillosis Centre in Manchester, UK which specialises in the detection and treatment of aspergillus infections but this remains the only such centre in the world.
It is also worth noting that we are only beginning to link a childhood in a damp, mouldy home with lifelong debilitating diseases - something the author here reports may well have started her illness.
The proceeds of this book are to go the the Fungal Research Trust which is a major funder of research and awareness projects in the UK and beyond.
Unfortunately at the beginning of her story aspergillosis was an extremely difficult infection to detect with many far more likely possible diagnoses to contend with and be eliminated over what can become a long period of time, passing through the hands of many different specialist doctors.
This book is her compelling and informative story of her struggles to find out what was wrong with her health and serves to inform us all, doctors, patients and carers, that we must never give up searching for the right diagnosis and never give up on listening to the patient.
The Health Service of today in the UK is a very different organisation compared to that in the 1970's, but detection of aspergillosis remains difficult and there is no cure for many of the forms of this infection. The UK now has the NHS National Aspergillosis Centre in Manchester, UK which specialises in the detection and treatment of aspergillus infections but this remains the only such centre in the world.
It is also worth noting that we are only beginning to link a childhood in a damp, mouldy home with lifelong debilitating diseases - something the author here reports may well have started her illness.
The proceeds of this book are to go the the Fungal Research Trust which is a major funder of research and awareness projects in the UK and beyond.
