Book Shares Inspiring True Story of First Survivor on Long-Term IV Feeding
Shireen Jeejeebhoy shares the powerful story of a courageous woman who made medical history in her award-winning book “Lifeliner: The Judy Taylor Story.”
Toronto, ON, Canada (PRWEB) March 31, 2008 — Author Shireen Jeejeebhoy tells the inspirational story of two pioneers in the medical field of artificial feeding in her award-winning, debut book “Lifeliner: The Judy Taylor Story” (ISBN 9780595445448, iUniverse, 2007). Judy Taylor was the first lifeliner, meaning she was the first person to live long-term strictly on intravenous feeding, without eating any food. Her doctor was Jeejeebhoy’s father and his groundbreaking research on artificial feeding and nutrition helped form the medical foundation of Total Parental Nutrition, or TPN, as it’s known today. “Lifeliner” was designated as an iUniverse Editor’s Choice and Publisher’s Choice award winner. It also placed first in the Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award in the Biography category.
Jeejeebhoy knew Judy personally and remembers her as a woman who lived with passion, even after a dramatic surgery forced her to become dependent on–and a guinea pig for–emerging medical technology. A life-threatening illness forced doctors to remove all of Judy’s intestines, leaving her unable to digest food. But she survived 20 more years on TPN. Judy used TPN to get her daily nourishment, by injecting a nutritionally complete solution into her central catheter every evening.
Jeejeebhoy says she admired Judy for her tenacity and positive outlook on life. Despite her illness, Judy was an active mother and community volunteer, who helped other patients adjust to living on TPN. “Lifeliner,” a book written for the lay audience, details the evolution of TPN and some of the nutritional discoveries Dr. Jeejeebhoy made as a result of Judy’s experiences. TPN was still a developing science, its long-term use unprecedented, when Judy went on it in 1970, and so Dr. Jeejeebhoy employed plenty of trial-and-error experimentation to care for her. His methods paid off though, as they made major nutritional discoveries and honed TPN into a much better system, one that is widely used for long-term patient care today.
“Lifeliner” tells the remarkable, inspiring story of a brave woman, who, together with her inventive doctor, made medical history. “When they sent her home on TPN, no one knew how long she would live or what her quality of life would be like,” Jeejeebhoy says. “As far as Judy was concerned, life itself was good enough and she had no intention of lying on the couch all day. She had been given a second chance and she was running with it.”
About the Author
Shireen Jeejeebhoy was born in London and now resides in Toronto, Canada. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Toronto. She is an accomplished writer with many articles to her credit. “Lifeliner” is her first published book.
“Lifeliner: The Judy Taylor Story” (ISBN 9780595445448, iUniverse, 2007) can be purchased through local and online bookstores. For more information, visit www.jeejeebhoy.ca. Publicity contact: www.readerviews.com. Review copies available upon request.
