Zara Teare

I am Zara Teare, I am 33, and I have Cystic Fibrosis (CF)

I was born and grew up in Plymouth UK.

CF is a genetic condition, so regular hospital appointments, IV antibiotics, physiotherapy and life in and out of hospital, were all normal to me.

October last year (2019) I was referred to Harefield Hospital London to start the lung transplant process, and started undergoing all the pre tests at my local hospital, in Plymouth.

I was at 10-35% lung function, but the need for constant IVs. My quality of life was vanishing.

I was lucky enough to start a trial drug, and I am now stable with 50% lung function.

During this time, I started wondering what job I could do if I become well enough to work again. Then I realised, I was asking myself the question I dreaded my whole childhood “what do you want to be when you grow up?”

To a child who looks normal on the outside, I always just said “nurse” ... but the truth of the matter is, that’s all I knew! My whole life was treatment and medication. Deep down, I hated that question, because I thought I’d never live long enough to have a dream, a family, an occupation. In my head, I was going to die before getting the chance to be anything!

So with these thoughts, I had inspiration to start writing.

I wrote it in the mind of my dog- Dave The Black Pug “I want to be a Puglebrity”

This book is dedicated to everyone! You’re never too old to start your dream job, and never ever too young to start trying!