Second Chances: true stories of living with Addison’s disease

How does it feel to be diagnosed with a life-threatening health condition?

Addison’s disease is a rare auto-immune condition which can be fatal. Diagnosis is often made in an emergency.

In this book, sixteen people describe the impact Addison’s disease has had on their lives. Drawn from the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, South Africa, Belgium and South Korea, these men and women describe in their own words the difficult journey they’ve taken, from illness, through diagnosis, to living a full life, thanks to the second chance modern medicine has given them.

Compiled and edited by Carol McKay. Published by PotHole Press, 2012.

Available on Kindle here     

Available on Kobo here

Available on iBooks here

When I was diagnosed with Addison’s disease in 2010, there were no books available for me to read to find out how people coped with this scary condition. There weren’t enough people diagnosed to form a big enough market to attract traditional publishers. I found the Addison’s Disease Self-Help Group invaluable, and I also joined a few groups on social media, but I still wanted detailed personal stories and came to believe others did, too. This was when I realised ebook publishing is ideal for niche markets like this, so I set about contacting people to invite them to share their stories.

There are a few posts about Addison’s on my blog.

In this one, you can read more about how the ebook came about.

In this post, you can read about my own experience of the Addison’s crisis which led to diagnosis.