A 33-year-old Eggbuckland woman who has battled severe health issues ever since she was born has seen a dramatic change in her life in 2020.
Zara Teare was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth which meant endless medical appointments, IV antibiotics, piles of tablets, physiotherapy and time spent in and out of hospital.
In October 2019 there was a ray of hope when she was referred to Harefield Hospital in London to start the process towards a lung transplant and started undergoing all the required preparatory tests at Derriford Hospital.
Then the pandemic struck in March last year and all of the tests were put on hold – and for Zara the outlook seemed pretty miserable.
“I was plodding along with a lung function of between 10 per cent to 35 per cent with the need for constant IVs,” said Zara.
“It felt like I would be on them forever and my quality of life was vanishing.”
But a few months before the pandemic in January last year she had been given the chance to start on a new ground-breaking medication called Symkevi, and later to another new wonder drug called Kaftrio.
“It was life changing,” said Zara, “and I felt things improving week after week. Less than a year later and I’m really starting to feel the benefits. I’ve now had a stable four months and am happy with my new lease of life.”
Her lung function has improved to 50 per cent with IV antibiotic treatment every 10 to 12 weeks, depending on how she was feeling.
With things looking more positive Zara used the time during her isolated and strict lockdown to start writing a children’s story.
“I started wondering what job I could do if I become well enough again, I could learn new skills maybe! Then I realised, I’m asking myself the question I dreaded my whole of my childhood ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’
“To a child who looks normal on the outside, I always just said ‘nurse’ – but the truth of the matter was, that’s all I knew! My whole life was treatment and medication. Deep down, I hated that question, because I thought I’d never live long enough to have a dream, a family, an occupation. In my head, I was going to die before getting the chance to be anything!”
It was these thoughts which inspired her to start writing in the mind of her dog – Dave, a black pug. And at the end of October her book ‘I Want to Be A Puglebrity’ was published.
Illustrated by Bex Sutton, the book reveals how The Black Pug and Mummy try to solve the hardest question of life – what should he be when he is older.
It has already received more than 30 five star reviews on Amazon.
Zara said: “What a transformation in the past 12 months: filling out my death wishes and praying new lungs will come my way to where I am now, with 50 per cent lung function with the ‘miracle’ drug and become a published author!
“I hope my story gives hope to all the children today, especially those born with life limiting conditions like cystic fibrosis. My future will hopefully be brighter, thanks to the wonderful researchers, fundraising and team at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust! Fundraising for charities and research really does make a difference.”
I Want to Be a Puglebrity is available on Amazon in all formats.
