One Day at a Time is Mel's story and it is our story.  From the summer of 2007 until the day of her funeral, it charts our experience and her amazing courage and bravery during her illness.  It tells how we dealt with news, good and bad and how Melissa dealt with the worse news of all, being told she only had weeks or months to live. 

The book was written using our respective blogs so the majority of it is written in 'real time'.  The money raised from the sale of this book was divided between Queen's Hospital and the City Hospital, Nottingham.  £1 from every copy sold was donated to the Lymphoma Association. 

The following text is a review from Amazon... 

"I had to review what has been one of the best books I've read this year.  Mel was just 20 years old, a student at Aston University and a football loving girl who was clearly adored by her family and friends alike. This isn't a book with a happy ending, yet the way in which the family pull together and deal with the news and terrible symptoms and side effects is somehow incredibly uplifting. Ian, Mel's Dad, has contributed large chunks of a blog he wrote to help keep everyone updated. He is a natural writer, and should definitely write more please! He is so, so honest, as is Mel in the facebook posts that she wrote and are also included.
If you are currently living with any long term illness, this books will be an incredible comfort. To know that others are muddling through, not knowing how to manage, and screaming at the unfair benefits system, is like being tucked up with a teddy bear. It seems much more alright, because it isn't just you wondering how you're going to function long enough to cook a meal, let alone eat it. Yes, this is the voice of painful experience. But it is also amazing for those who have family members, friends, or colleagues facing long term acute or terminal diagnosis. It tells you the things about illness that the 'how to deal with you illness books' leave out. Like please send books/films/games/etc as being stuck in bed unable to move is incredibly boring.  I will treasure these things more than you could understand. Or the side effects of the drugs sometimes being worse than the illness, and are sometimes embarrassing and horrible. Or that no matter how much you plan a lovely day out, everything has to change at the last minute if you're not well enough.  What an impact this book has had on me. I picked it up from our local library, but am ordering my own copy and one for lending out to others to help them understand the frustrations and fears of long term illness. Ultimately Mel and Ian write with such wit, honesty, and genuine feeling, that this book is a joy to read. everyone I know!"

Whilst the book is still available from Waterstones and Amazon etc, I do make PDF copies available to health professionals as I know they find it a useful insight into dealing with end of life.  If you are a health professional and you would like a PDF copy, please email me at ijleech@hotmail.co.uk