Life is Bliss
An Inspirational Story
by
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“Life is Bliss” “The window in my room was very slightly ajar and I recall thinking that if I could get out of the bed and open it a little further, I could jump out and fall to the bottom of the building. I had seriously had enough. My body and mind were living in hell. “The old patients in the ward I had been put in were dying on a daily basis, families would be mourning and crying as they passed away and here is me, wanting to die at the age of 34.” The doctors and even the specialists were baffled. Once a fit and always raring-to-go individual, Debbie Bliss was literally fading away. Having been diagnosed with a rare condition, dermatomyositis, the medical staff weren’t sure what to do with her or how to treat her. "Life is Bliss" takes the reader through Debbie's highs and lows, her fight back to health, her adventures, her challenges, her triumphs, her tears. “Nights like these are very vivid in my memory as I really did not have the energy to think or even care. After spending a night in the emergency ward, I was wheeled to another busy ward for a couple of nights. I guess the doctors were trying to assess the situation and then decide where a 34 year old should be treated with a rare condition. “ Eventually, to my horror, I was taken to a geriatric ward. Wheeled in on my bed due to the weight of my head and the pains in my lower limbs and I remember seeing a sight I had not seen for many years, since visiting my grandad in hospital. Alternate wards of different sexes, old people lolloping in winged chairs staring into space or shouting out for the toilet. There was a clinical smell tinged with a musty old person aroma. I was thinking please do not put me in a ward amongst the old folks. I definitely would not be able to cope. I think I am one of the lightest sleepers ever, I can hear a leave fall out of a tree. I felt relieved when they wheeled me into a side ward behind the nurses’ reception desk, a room all to myself. It was a constant bombardment of doctors, junior doctors and specialists. Due to the rare condition, I became the talk of the hospital and it was interesting for the medical profession to actually see the condition they have only read about in books or researched on the internet. I was asked if they could take photos of my face for medical research and for a hospital newsletter. Of course I obliged. To be honest I really did not care and anything to help increase awareness for this illness in the hope that they do, one day, find a cure. Normally I would be reaching out for a hairbrush to ensure my appearance was the best it could be. Or I would be checking the photo to make sure it was okay to use and demand to delete it if it was not up to standard to have another one taken. I just sat there whilst they took it and said nothing. My appearance had improved dramatically in the past four weeks so they were really not getting my best shot. But I still resembled the Elephant man, as my eyes were very swollen and purple. There was a purple rash across my nose. My knuckles were red and itchy. What a picture!” I was placed on a high protein diet with high energy foods and protein shakes. I was having spasms within my oesophagus on food substances so was placed on puree foods, just like some of the older patients in the ward. My normal weight of 58kg was now reduced to 52kg. It eventually reduced to 49kg.” They said she would never ride a horse again but she did. They said she would never exercise again or exert herself yet she has raised thousands of pounds for charity through mind and body-challenging fund-raising marathons. And to cap it all, she carried the 2012 Olympic flame as a torch-bearer. “I decided I wanted to take on a physical challenge for another charity and I have always been interested and intrigued with the Great Wall of China. The many steps we would have to climb I knew would be a huge challenge in itself for me. It had only been seven years since it took me one minute and 18 seconds to climb three steps during my rehabilitation days. I was on a mission and felt I needed to push my limits and boundaries with my illness and prove to myself and others, that I could live a normal life. It was only seven years ago I was told I would never ride a horse again yet I am managing to ride on a daily basis. I would agree that it did cause me a few problems once I dismounted with severe muscle pains but that was only a small sacrifice for the pleasure I got when I rode.” Debbie says in her book: “It is always in my mind that I must remain fit, especially my heart, because without the level of fitness I had when I first took ill with dermatomyositis I would not be here today. Even though I am now in remission, it could appear at any time and it could be with me for many years. My sister Karen had once told me that it was time to take my trainers off and put my slippers on. There was no chance that was going to happen and it is statements like that that inspire me to keep moving.” Debbie’s book invites the reader to travel with her through her incredible journey. Having her son Mat, riding horses, living in the sun, conquering the Great Wall of China, being knocked off her cycle whilst training for Vietnam and being left for dead weeks before the challenge, cycling from North to South of Vietnam, sky diving, a Peru challenge, raising money for Mat’s half brother Josh when he was diagnosed with leukaemia, raising £91,400 for different charities even though the majority of the time she was in pain and suffering with extreme fatigue. Being a torch bearer for the 2012 Olympics. Tears of pain and uncertainty for the future. Being as fit as a fiddle but then being unable to move her finger to her nose, let alone hold the weight of her own head. This is no ordinary book. It is not just a biography of a woman who has conquered the odds. It is a tale of courage and inspiration, one which you won't want to put down because you want to find out what happens next. And if it also encourages others to fight their own battles with all their might, they “Life is Bliss” is another of Debbie’s major accomplishments.
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About the Book
Debbie Bliss has never been a shrinking violet. She has fought all her life—not just for herself, but for others too.
Now aged forty-eight, there was a stage when she thought she would not live long enough to see her son grow up, to ride a horse again, to travel the world, or to follow one of her greatest passions—to push herself to the limit while raising money for charity at the same time.
Debbie is one of the few people in the world to suffer from dermatomyositis. One in a million are affected by this debilitating condition that can leave sufferers totally paralyzed, in a wheelchair, and unable to walk or even to talk in some cases.
Her reaction when she was eventually diagnosed was not to sit back and be a victim. She fought back, determined that this crippling disease would not triumph.
Debbie has led an incredible life, one which has taken her to all the corners of the earth, including to Australia and the sunshine island of Tenerife.
She was born in Leicester and comes from a family of four girls. Even then, however, life was never easy, and her book gives us an insight into why she became the determined and headstrong person she is today.
One day, she was a healthy, happy, fit, and loving mother and wife. The next, she was struck down by a mystery illness that saw her weight plummet to seven stone and led to months in a hospital ward, where she could only be fed through a tube.
But she did. “Life is Bliss” conveys Debbie’s ethos: that life is for living to the full. But in this fascinating book, she also hopes to provide inspiration for others—to tell them not to give up hope, to find that inner strength to fight whatever challenge they face.
About the Author
The saying goes that “extraordinary things are created by ordinary people,” and that is certainly true of Debbie Bliss.
Debbie was born in Leicester, UK, on September 17, 1965, and she has three sisters: Karen, Kerrie, and Louise.
It has been a long-held ambition to write her life story since she contracted dermatomyositis in the 2000. Though this is her first book, she has always enjoyed writing for local newspapers and magazines regarding health, fitness, and nutrition. Despite not excelling at school (where she considered herself somewhat of a rebel), she went on to achieve a number of qualifications in management such as a BTEC National in Business, Finance, and Personnel, an NVQ in Management, a teaching qualification, and an assessor award.
Debbie has spent the majority of her working career in the sports industry, mainly as a qualified personal trainer, sports injury therapist, and lifestyle coach. She has a vast amount of qualifications and experience in the fitness world and has qualifications as a GP referral for lower back exercises. She used to run her own gym on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. She is qualified to teach disabled children to swim, train children and adults with disabilities sports and activities, and teach netball and badminton. She is also qualified to practice Reiki with her healing hands.
She has travelled extensively to many countries around the world, mainly alone, and undertaken a variety of challenges and adventures such as walking on the Great Wall of China, cycling from the north to the south of Vietnam, doing a tandem freefall from thirteen thousand feet, trekking the Inca Trail in Peru, and raising £91,800 for different charities (at the time of writing this book). In her spare time (when she has any), she enjoys horse riding, climbing, mountain climbing, and training for the next challenge.