About the Book

Just minutes before my husband found me passed out, covered in my own vomit, anyone would have believed I was perfectly healthy…including me. What I didn’t know was that, since birth, a tumour had been growing in my brain, waiting for 2015 before it would make its shocking, and nearly deadly, presence known.

What followed were months of brain surgeries, radiotherapy, and multiple scares as the doctors raced a tumour that had been left unchecked to grow for thirty-six years. Healing involved more than the medical miracles I experienced. In fact, healing is still a process I must tackle every day.

I’m here today, after a harrowing six-year journey, because of my husband, who rescued me not once, but twice, before my illness was even diagnosed, and again every day since. I’m here today because of my family, who helped me face interminable hospital stays and repeated recovery procedures. I’m here because I kept my faith in God and felt Him strengthen me when I had no strength of my own left.

I’m ready to share my story in the hopes that I might help any others who experience brain injury of any kind, but especially those who have suffered a tumour and survived the treatment—not to mention the psychological and personality changes that result. I started this book to help me remember every step of my journey. I hope now that it might be a light in someone else’s darkness.

Buy

Contact

About Katie

Katie began her career in the administration field and enjoyed fourteen years working in various reputable companies. She was always interested in writing, but it took a bitter twist of fate to launch her into the writing world. Compelled to share her story, she journaled it from the outset and is now sharing in an open and detailed way. She aspires to help other readers around the world offering them hope and advice.

Katie has a passion for travel and immersing herself in different cultures. She has lived and worked in America, Australia and Scotland. She now resides in her home city of Cork, Ireland, with her handsome, humourous husband, Donal, who lifts her up when she’s feeling down.

Read an Excerpt

Just minutes before my husband found me semi-conscious, gurgling nonsense, and covered in my own vomit, anyone would have thought I was the average healthy, happily married, thirty-six-year-old woman. My wonderful, handsome husband Donal and I were working hard, exercising regularly, and relishing in a healthy social life. We enjoyed travelling together, which allowed us to discover the diverse cultures of different countries. The term often used to describe couples like us is D.I.N.K.s—double income, no kids.

We met through our mutual friend Dee when Donal and I were both single and ready to mingle, and we started dating in 2006. We were careful at first, as we had both been disappointed in our last relationships, friends with benefits, until we made it official a short period later.

Donal was vivacious and funny and close to his family. Within a very short time, I could tell that he was honest and hardworking. His wide range of interests included fitness, cars, and most impor‐ tantly, me. Perhaps the most telling thing about what kind of guy I’d just gotten myself mixed up with: He had a multitude of genuine friends, and they helped each other any way they could.

We were soon close and committed to each other, so we purchased a lovely and comfortable house in a suburb of Cork City, where we still live. In 2010, Donal proposed on the scenic London Eye. Of course, I accepted.

However, we decided to postpone our wedding when Donal received an exciting and unique offer to work and live in Scotland. In 2011, we both grabbed the opportunity and spent a diverse, challenging year living and working in Edinburgh.

We didn’t realise at the time how significant that year was. It transformed us into stronger people, both as individuals and as a couple. We were sad to leave Scotland but also content. We were ready to recommence our lives in Ireland, and I soon became employed by a well-known retail company.

A few months later, we decided to set our wedding date for December 2013. I did have to inform a few inquiring minds that I was not pregnant, as we had set the date, planned the wedding, and married in record time. Our wedding was meant to be, as everything fell into place from the planning stages to the big day. It poured the rain at times the day of our wedding, but it did not dampen our spirits. Instead, we enjoyed a special and memorable day out with our families.

I keep this memory with me and look back as often as I can to remember why I fought so hard, and still do, to keep living.

What People Say

The nightmare Katie suffered is hard to read, but she tempers all of it with characteristic Irish wit. Even when I wanted to cry for her, she’d figure out a way to make me smile.
– A Reader

In some ways, this book reminded me of Brain on Fire, but sometimes funnier, and sometimes scarier… And always uplifting. Katie never missed a chance to inspire.
– A Reader