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New Balloons: How New Lungs Helped Me Fly
Can you imagine sucking air through the tiny hole in your closed fist or spending twenty-four hours sucking air in and out through a plastic straw? Imagining is hard when breath comes easily to you. It is something humans do every day. Something we all take for granted. Breathing was a luxury Leanne thought she would always have… until it was taken away from her. Cystic fibrosis stole Leanne’s young life, acquainting her with a journey of failing health and, ultimately, leaving her knocking on death’s door. The propitious hopes of a medical miracle became a life line, with a double lung transplant being Leanne’s only hope for survival. New Balloons is a passionate and honest memoir that will take you on a physical and emotional roller coaster ride of life with failing lungs. Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Leanne faces her own death with a valiant strength and resilience, reminding us of the most important things in life. Hope resonates through her words and draws the reader into a warm repository of emotion. Her positivity in the face of adversity echoes of a reality very few of us have faced. A candid and thoughtful insight into organ donation through the eyes of a lucky and grateful recipient.
342 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 20, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 28, 2018
This book is a life affirming read, where we are reminded of how precious life is. The ability to breathe freely, a gift we take for granted as an automatic action, gains new meaning when we hear of the struggles of these sufferers and their desperate desire to be able to breath freely and be ‘normal’.
This book is also a love story. What began as an internet friendship becomes a most incredible relationship and then marriage, filled with devotion, commitment and unselfish love. What a man! He is always there, supporting her, both physically and emotionally, loving, caring. I am sure Leanne could not have taken this journey alone. Without her Jay, she surely would not have succeeded, strong as she may be.
A ‘roller coaster’ is the description on the ‘blurb’, and no other word could be as apt. One minute despair, then hope , elation, problems, despair.....I may seem to be resorting to cliches to describe this book....but they are apt. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction, when lungs become available a matter of hours after Leanne is placed in the transplant list.
Leanne shows a quite incredible medical knowledge, certainly about CF, and also an intelligent understanding of the complexities of medication, body reactions and the psychological effects.
Leanne also shares the stories of others who have had transplants so we see others’ unique journeys but also a shared path of suffering, hope, fear and joy, but above all, gratitude to their donors and for the skill of the medical staffs. My memory of young Leanne was her having to endure the death of so many of the friends she had made in hospital. Now there is a second chance for these sufferers, a transplant.
The book not only has a beautiful feel to it as a life affirming read, but literally a lovely ‘feel’ to it. The cover, the pages do feel lovely. It is a beautiful production.
Congratulations to all concerned.
Leanne, you did it. You have written your book, giving an interesting, absorbing account of your experiences, which will help others who are in a similar situation to yourself, the medical profession who are dealing with these fragile people and the rest of us so we can attempt to understand the suffering, successes and achievements of others like yourself and be thankful for our own good health and ability to perform the simple task of breathing freely.
This book is also a love story. What began as an internet friendship becomes a most incredible relationship and then marriage, filled with devotion, commitment and unselfish love. What a man! He is always there, supporting her, both physically and emotionally, loving, caring. I am sure Leanne could not have taken this journey alone. Without her Jay, she surely would not have succeeded, strong as she may be.
A ‘roller coaster’ is the description on the ‘blurb’, and no other word could be as apt. One minute despair, then hope , elation, problems, despair.....I may seem to be resorting to cliches to describe this book....but they are apt. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction, when lungs become available a matter of hours after Leanne is placed in the transplant list.
Leanne shows a quite incredible medical knowledge, certainly about CF, and also an intelligent understanding of the complexities of medication, body reactions and the psychological effects.
Leanne also shares the stories of others who have had transplants so we see others’ unique journeys but also a shared path of suffering, hope, fear and joy, but above all, gratitude to their donors and for the skill of the medical staffs. My memory of young Leanne was her having to endure the death of so many of the friends she had made in hospital. Now there is a second chance for these sufferers, a transplant.
The book not only has a beautiful feel to it as a life affirming read, but literally a lovely ‘feel’ to it. The cover, the pages do feel lovely. It is a beautiful production.
Congratulations to all concerned.
Leanne, you did it. You have written your book, giving an interesting, absorbing account of your experiences, which will help others who are in a similar situation to yourself, the medical profession who are dealing with these fragile people and the rest of us so we can attempt to understand the suffering, successes and achievements of others like yourself and be thankful for our own good health and ability to perform the simple task of breathing freely.
March 14, 2019
I became interested in Leanne’s story through a recommendation on Instagram. I then started to follow her and read the book to understand more about cystic fibrosis and Leanne’s subsequent double lung transplant. It was a well written, engrossing book. Many sad moments but mostly a life affirming read and ultimately a celebration of organ donors. Without the organ donors, there would of course be no transplants of any kind and people such as Leanne would not be here with us today. I thoroughly recommend this book. Give it a read, you won’t be sorry.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews