lupus mentioned in the daily mail today!

[emmaj]

Hi all, i dont have lupus (as far as i know so far) but it was mentioned today in the daily mail, cerebral lupus, and i dont know the difference but i assume any coverage is good coverage?? xx

[MaryF Administrator]

Well spotted, maybe somebody will find the article, will have a go now. Mary F and I think that Paddy has this article somewhere! M

[paddyandlin]

Article below and link to it

dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...

Author to see first novel in print... after brain condition made her FORGET she had written it By Lauren Paxman

Last updated at 7:26 PM on 20th February 2012

An author who survived a three month coma is celebrating the publication of her first novel - after completely forgetting she had written it.

Alexandra Singer was struck down with the crippling nerve condition cerebral lupus in 2008, while she writing her debut Tea At The Grand Tazi.

She was left with long-term memory loss and had completely forgotten about the novel until her brother found the half-finished manuscript while clearing her London flat.

Mission accomplished: Alexandra Singer, who survived a three month coma, is celebrating the publication of her first novel - after completely forgetting she had written it

Miss Singer's story mirrors that of S J Watson's best-seller Before I Go To Sleep. In the novel the protagonist also forgets she was a writer until she comes across her novel.

Despite being left unable to walk by the illness, determined Miss Singer has spent the last two years in hospital teaching herself to write again so she could complete on the book.

The 29-year-old, a former trainer corporate lawyer from Cheadle, Manchester, said: 'My experience was horrendous.

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'The doctors thought I would be brain damaged and for six months I was paralysed and couldn’t speak.

'But it was the book that helped me to pull through. I apparently had the idea before the illness, but was too busy working to write it.

'I was excited when my bother brought the script to me in hospital and the prospect of finishing it inspired me to relearn to write.'

Alex was warned by doctors she might never be able to walk again and spent months fighting paralysis, breathing through a tracheotomy tube.

She still relies on a wheelchair to get about but has started walking slowly at home.

The determined writer said her novel became her focal point as she battled to regain her health following her illness.

The story draws on Alex’s own experiences of travelling and tells the tale of an expat in Morrocco struggling to make her way in the world.

It book is being published by Legend Press next month after Alex won the runner-up prize in the Luke Bitmead Bursary competition, set up to support young novelists in the memory of Legend Press author Luke Bitmead.

The Masters student at the University of Manchester, said: 'The book is set in the evocative landscape of Marrakech, Morocco and follows a young expat Maia who struggles to take control of her life, after succumbing to the seedy underbelly of the city.

'I was travelling a lot before I fell ill and met many unusual people, expatriates running away from their lives in the UK, which is what influenced the book.

'I am so lucky to have such a supportive family and to have an amazing University on my doorstep. They thought I was going to die but have supported me in every way.'

Following her experiences in the NHS, she chose to take the MA in Health Care Law and Ethics at the University’s School of Law in Sept 2011.

She also does freelance legal translation and research as well as lots of physiotherapy in her bid to walk again.

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Thanks for the heads up Emmaj - I have let my theatre director friend know about it as she has written a play about lupus and this might help with the publicity. The play has just had its first public reading but should be in a London theatre soon - I will post when it's all up and running.

[emmaj]

great x