At the age of forty-four Tricia Anderson was diagnosed with an incurable brain stem tumour in October 2005 and was told she had only a few months to live. Before she died in October 2007, and with the support and encouragement of Tom Weld from the Rosetta Life organisation, she produced this moving collection of poems and drawings about her experience of having terminal cancer. Darkly emotive at times, the poems remain honest and are ultimately about the experiences of loss and grief, pain and joy, capitulation and triumph that we all share.

A proportion of the profits from the sale of Still Here will go to The Tricia Anderson Award for Midwives.  This is an award that will be established and administered through the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust, a charity that aims to promote the care of women, their babies and families through awarding grants in support of midwifery education and practice.  The final details of Tricia’s award have yet to be confirmed, but its focus will be to support midwives who wish to promote normality in birth, breastfeeding, or the use of art and music in midwifery.   If you wish to make a separate donation to Tricia’s award please ensure that your cheque or donation is marked ‘In memory of Tricia Anderson’. See the website of the Iolanthe Trust for more information.

Tricia herself writes "In September 2005, at the age of 44, I was diagnosed with an inoperable, incurable brain stem tumour and was told I only had a few months to live. I am a homebirth midwife, so know about supporting others at life’s edges of birth and death, but was totally shocked to find myself catapulted there. I thought I was halfway through my life, and never thought it would happen to me. My journey since then has encompassed denial, rage and complete despair, sprinkled with rays of happiness and lots of flowers. The poems and sketches which make up the cycle entitled 'Still Here' are quite bleak, for which I make no apology. I have found the process of writing them very therapeutic, and being diagnosed with terminal cancer is a bleak situation to find yourself in. I spent the first few months in shock, the next few months preparing to die, but then decided to spend the rest of my life living! The type of tumour I have is very rare, apparently, and already has behaved in a way that was not predicted, so don’t take any predictions as gospel and live life for each precious minute! These poems are shared in the hope that others may find some comfort in knowing they are not alone."

Unfortunately, this book is now out of print. If you would like to be contacted when it is available again, or would like to comment on anything about the book, please write to me, Roger Challans, at roger@stripe.f9.co.uk