A Mother's Day Gift: the True Story of a Young Mother Battling the Odds for Her Children

Toronto, Canada, May 07, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Readers in Europe, the US, and other parts of the world are enjoying Lifeliner: The Judy Taylor Story, the debut book from London-born author Shireen Jeejeebhoy. It tells the moving and poignant story of a young Canadian mother who made medical history as the first person to live long-term strictly on intravenous feeding without eating any food.

The book has just scooped awards in the US for Editor’s Choice and Publisher’s Choice and won first place in the Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award in the Biography Category.

Judy Taylor’s doctor was the author’s father, Dr Khursheed Jeejeebhoy, and his groundbreaking research on artificial feeding and nutrition helped form the medical foundation of Total Parenteral Nutrition, or TPN, as it is known today.

With thousands of patients facing artificial feeding issues, the book has widespread medical interest, especially for mothers facing health crises in their own families. A European study showed that cancer was the number one reason patients in Belgium, Denmark, France, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Germany went on Home TPN or Home Parenteral Nutrition at 39 per cent followed by people suffering from Crohn’s (19 per cent).

Besides its medical story, the book is also winning accolades for its powerful inspirational story telling:

“Jeejeebhoy’s style of writing sets the right pace as we follow Judy’s medical difficulties.” Gloria Oren, Writer and Editor

“Shireen Jeejeebhoy has written an extraordinary account of Judy Taylor and her fight for life.” Carol Hoyer, Ph.D. Family Psychology

“Shireen’s pen has all the force of a great storyteller and the artistic skills of reviving a past scene in its most original form. She shows us the situation, taking us to the time and place of the event without throwing in a single unnecessary word.” Ernest Dempsey, Reviewer and Author

Shireen met Judy while a young girl and was inspired to share her story to offer hope to all those going through crises of their own.

Despite her illness, Judy was an active mother and community volunteer. She, along with her determined doctor, helped bring TPN out of the realm of science fiction and into reality, allowing more patients, whether they have bowel disease, cancer, or AIDS, to live longer, fulfilled lives.

“Lifeliner,” available online, is a book written for the lay audience. Besides detailing the evolution of TPN, it is gripping readers around the world with its inspiring story of a brave woman, who, together with her inventive doctor, made medical history and, as well, watched her children grow up and her grandchildren born.

“When they sent her home on TPN, no one knew how long she would live or what her quality of life would be like,” Shireen 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.” And run she did, right into the medical history books. Read more at http://jeejeebhoy.ca/lifeliner.

Lifeliner: The Judy Taylor Story
by Shireen Jeejeebhoy
iUniverse
October 2007 / 186 pages
ISBN: 978-0-595-44544-8 Trade Paper US$16.95

About the Author

Shireen Jeejeebhoy now resides in Toronto, Canada. She holds a B.Sc. in psychology from the University of Toronto. She is an accomplished writer with many articles to her credit.

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