Lexy Perez

Gypsy Rose Blanchard will voice the audiobook edition of her first memoir.

Audiobook publisher RBmedia announced Tuesday that Blanchard will narrate the audiobook edition of her first memoir, My Time to Stand: A Memoir. Written by Blanchard with Melissa Moore and Michele Matrisciani, the memoir will release in December, a year after Blanchard's release from prison.

Blanchard said in a statement: "I can't think of a better way to connect with readers than for them to hear my voice as I read the words of my life's journey so far. By narrating my memoir, My Time to Stand, I hope readers will feel like I'm in the room with them, so they can find the strength, hope and inspiration to explore their own stories and heal. For my whole life I was denied a voice. Now, to be in a place where I am literally speaking my truth feels like a miraculous gift. And I can't wait to share it."

Blanchard was famously sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016 after she pleaded guilty to persuading her then boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, whom she met online, to kill her mother Dee Dee Blanchard after she had forced her daughter to pretend for years that she was suffering from serious illnesses, including leukemia and muscular dystrophy. The younger Blanchard was released on parole from Missouri's Chillicothe Correctional Center on Dec. 28 after serving 85 percent of her original sentence.

"In this revelatory, harrowing and ultimately hopeful memoir, Gypsy shares the painful realities she grew up with and the details of her life that only she knows," RBmedia said of the book, adding that it "offers an unprecedented look at the real Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who is proudly embarking on her ongoing journey to recovery and self-discovery."

RBmedia chief content officer Troy Juliar added, "Gypsy Rose has overcome so much incomprehensible adversity in her life. With only a second-grade education, what an amazing feat and achievement to now write and narrate her own book. RBmedia is honored to bring her incredible story to audio for the very first time in her own words and iconic voice. The audiobook will capture the authenticity and raw emotion in Gypsy Rose's voice, engaging listeners in a way that only audio format can."

The audiobook will include exclusive bonus content from Blanchard and her co-authors that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the book.

In addition to the upcoming memoir, Blanchard's life story has been explored in various documentaries including HBO's Mommy Dead and Dearest and Lifetime's docuseries Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup —the follow-up to The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Her story was also adapted into Hulu's fictional series The Act, starring Joey King and Patricia Arquette.

The announcement of Blanchard's memoir comes amid her surprise reveal that she and her boyfriend, Ken Urker, are expecting their first child together. "Well … the rumors are true!" she wrote in the caption for her YouTube video. "Ken and I are so excited to start our family together and i can't wait to share my journey with you here on YouTube and my other social media platforms. Thank you for all your support so far and i can't wait to see our family grow."

RBmedia will publish the audiobook edition of My Time to Stand: A Memoir under its Recorded Books audio brand, with the hardcover and eBook editions from BenBella Books releasing simultaneously. My Time to Stand: A Memoir is available to preorder and will release on Dec. 10, 2024.

"For my whole life I was denied a voice. Now, to be in a place where I am literally speaking my truth feels like a miraculous gift. And I can't wait to share it," Blanchard said of the memoir releasing in December.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard to Narrate Audiobook Edition of Her Memoir 'My Time to Stand'  Hollywood ReporterGypsy Rose Blanchard Will Narrate the Audiobook for Her New Memoir (Exclusive)  PEOPLEGypsy Rose Blanchard To Release Audiobook Of Her Memoir  imdb

Gypsy Rose Blanchard to Narrate Audiobook Edition of Her Memoir 'My Time to Stand' - Hollywood Reporter

Gypsy Rose Blanchard to Narrate Audiobook Edition of Her Memoir 'My Time to Stand'

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When COVID-19 arrived in the Netherlands almost 3 years ago, Dr Merel Hellemons was working as a respiratory specialist. Worried about the long-term effects of lung injury in her hospitalized patients, she and her colleagues at the Erasmus University
Medical Centre in Rotterdam set up a post-COVID-19 clinic to chart how 650 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 from the first and second wave in 2020 were recovering. What they saw took them by surprise. "One of the things that we noticed early on in these patients was that lung injury was there, but it was resolving most of the time, and only a fraction of them had severe lung injury," noted Dr Hellemons. "But it became apparent
that so many patients were unable to return to work and suffered from lots of weird symptoms, like cognitive problems and memory loss." The clinic soon started to receive calls from general practitioners (GPs) describing patients who had not been ill enough to require hospital admission but were nonetheless suffering a range of similar symptoms.  "In retrospect, it was a misconception not to include this group in the original study plan. We never imagined that patients who had initially experienced COVID-19 less severely would also have residual symptoms." They have now also included these patients in a research programme which aims to increase understanding and find workable treatments for post COVID-19 condition, the complex syndrome now commonly known as "long COVID". Understanding the complexity of long COVID Based on background research into ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome – a serious, long-term illness that affects many body systems), the Erasmus team hypothesized that persistent post COVID-19 symptoms may be due to immune
disruption triggered by viral infection. Putting this hypothesis to the test, they compared the changes in the immune system of study participants who had had COVID-19 which led to persistent fatigue 6 months after hospital discharge, with those
who did not develop this ongoing fatigue. This has revealed some interesting differences, which the research team are now investigating further.  "We found a wide variety of immune abnormalities, with differing immune-profiles in different patients. There are different sorts of immune disruption and what we cannot yet determine is how these findings in the immune system relate to symptoms.
What we do see, however, is probable targets for therapy and that this should be tailored to the patients." The Erasmus team have taken physical function measurements, such as walking ability and hand-grip strength that can point to improvements in a patient's physical recovery over time and can help identify those who need rehabilitation. However,
cognitive measurements, and investigation into quality of life, return to work, stress, depression and anxiety symptoms reveal considerable, long-lasting impacts. The Erasmus team is also coordinating the CO-FLOW study involving patients from 8 other regional hospitals and rehabilitation sites in the Netherlands. Due to the high prevalence of these residual symptoms in the 650 people enrolled in the study,
the team plan to extend their research for a further period to better understand these impacts in the longer-term. Angelique Hasselbaink is one of those enrolled in the study. She was hospitalized with COVID-19 and has returned to the centre 4 times to participate in tests. Like most participants, she is keen to contribute to the understanding of long COVID. "The
people in the hospital, the medical staff, they were there for me. So I think it's my obligation to give back to the public. To help." Another participant is Justine Pelmelay, a singer who has previously represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. She was hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2020 and has experienced a big impact on her subsequent health: "The first
time after COVID I had to perform I was crying on stage because my condition was terrible". Her motivation to enrol was also to help others, so they will not have to go through what she did. A patient-centred approachDr Hellemons acknowledges that for those suffering ongoing symptoms, finding treatment is a pressing priority, and that many are frustrated by the wait for a full understanding of the disease. She therefore proposes more urgent research into progressive
forms of treatment. "We as doctors don't like to take too many risks. On the other hand, rather than patients privately trialling unproven techniques, we would rather try safer treatments that we can really learn from regarding the effects, in a controlled
setting, with informed consent, in co-creation with the patient. No 2 long COVID patients are the same. Based on variety in symptoms and the differences in immune disturbances, each patient needs to be treated differently, and that's what
we're going to focus on next. We are planning to establish a clinical study where we carry out immune profiling of patients and based on this, we propose pragmatic treatments. There are several drugs that we already know work well with other
diseases that are safe, have limited side effects and are affordable." The team are also hoping to collaborate with the patient advocacy group Long COVID Europe, with whom WHO/Europe partners.  "They, the patients, are the experts. They collaborate so much, they exchange so much. We can learn so much from them," says Dr Hellemons.Despite the prevalence of long COVID in Europe, Dr Hellemons believes that the condition is still mostly unrecognized, leaving many sufferers with unmet needs. She also mentions widespread misconceptions about treatment, such as a belief that it can
be solved by exercise, or that symptoms can be attributed purely to psychological factors.  The role of GPs To dispel misconceptions about long COVID, Dr Hellemons and her team deliver lectures and workshops, physically and online, to GPs across the Netherlands, bringing them new insights into how to support their patients. In turn, they hear from GPs about
successful long COVID management strategies. "We are involving GPs in our project to see which patients should be treated by which speciality, because you need to divide the burden equally and have the right treatment, in the right place and at the right time. There are some patients that
need an internal medicine doctor or a lung specialist for treatment, but there are other patients that will need to see a physiotherapist." While anything resembling a "cure" for long COVID still seems a long way off, Dr Hellemons is optimistic that the research undertaken at Erasmus University Medical Centre will help find forms of successful treatment for at least some people. The determination of the Erasmus team to make a difference to the lives of those coping with this little understood condition is summed up in Dr Hellemons' parting words – words which she hopes will also be a trigger for others in the
region and globally. "It's time for action. We have a lot of work ahead of us." WHO/Europe and post COVID-19 condition (long COVID)  WHO/Europe remains committed to learning more about the medium- and long-term outcomes for people with post-COVID-19 condition and has developed 3 goals in collaboration with Long COVID Europe, jointly calling for governments and health authorities to
focus attention on the condition and those affected by it through greater: recognition and knowledge-sharing  research and reporting  rehabilitation.

"It's time for action. We have a lot of work ahead of us": researchers in the Netherlands work with patients to solve the puzzle of long COVID

December 2, 2022 —  Westchester resident, 62-year-old Miriam Nieves, is especially grateful this Thanksgiving season. Earlier this year, she became the first HIV-positive person in the world to receive a lifesaving heart from an HIV-positive donor. Now, seven months after her surgery at Montefiore Health System, she is meeting her donor's family for the first time and raising awareness about the need for more people to become organ donors.  Ms. Nieves' story is one of struggle and triumph. After overcoming drug addiction, which resulted in her contracting HIV, Ms. Nieves went on to have a successful career, three children, and six grandchildren.  After years of recovery and effectively controlling her HIV, she experienced another health issue in 2006, when she was diagnosed with kidney cancer and needed to have one kidney removed. Nine years later, her remaining kidney started to fail, eventually requiring nightly dialysis. Her kidney function was so poor it was determined that she would need a kidney transplant. When a match became available, Ms. Nieves and her husband of 27 years, Julio, were relieved and overjoyed. However, devastatingly, when she was being assessed for the kidney transplant surgery, it was apparent that her heart function had deteriorated significantly, making it unlikely that she would survive the operation. Now Ms. Nieves would need a heart transplant too. She thought her chances were impossible. Thankfully, her team of specialists at Montefiore had the experience and determination to find a solution. In 2013, the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act enabled people who had HIV to donate their organs to a HIV-positive recipient, but a HIV-to-HIV heart transplant had never been successfully performed. Montefiore infectious disease specialist, Vagish Hemmige, M.D., spearheaded efforts to develop the protocol and navigate the regulatory requirements, making Montefiore one of only two centers in the United States eligible to perform this novel surgery, and becoming the first in the country to make the surgery happen.  "Our experience with patients who had received other organs from HIV-positive donors convinced us that a HIV-positive heart donation could be carried out successfully," said Dr. Hemmige, who is Ms. Nieves' HIV care provider at Montefiore and associate professor of medicine and director of Medical Student Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.  In the United States, there are between 60,000 and 100,000 people who could benefit from a new heart, however only around 3,800 transplants were performed in 2021.  "Sadly, many people with HIV waiting for a heart never receive one," said Ms. Nieves' cardiologist at Montefiore, Omar Saeed, M.D., M.S., who is also an associate professor of medicine at Einstein. "By successfully managing Ms. Nieves' care, we have shown that HIV-positive donors are a lifeline, and we encourage more people to consider sharing this lifesaving gift." "Our multidisciplinary team of clinical and surgical specialists are uniquely positioned to find new, sophisticated ways to serve our patients," said Jamil Borgi, M.D., heart surgeon, Associate Surgical Director, Advanced Pulmonary Failure and Lung Transplantation, Montefiore.  Once Ms. Nieves was listed for an HIV-positive heart, she was the only person on the transplant list eligible for such an organ, which meant she didn't have to wait very long. Just a few days later, she was told there was a match. 1,500 miles away in Louisiana, 30-year-old Brittany Newton tragically passed away. Brittany was an aspiring nurse who, according to her family, had a heart of gold. In choosing to be an organ donor, and with the assistance of the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, Brittany became a hero, giving the gift of life to Ms. Nieves.   On November 22, surrounded by her medical team at Montefiore, Ms. Nieves met Brittany's family for the first time.    "I am so grateful to the Newton family, and to Montefiore for taking a chance and extending my life," said Ms. Nieves. "I hope other people see my story and start the conversation about organ donation as they gather with their families this Thanksgiving. I hope to inspire more people to become organ donors and see that they have the power to save lives."  For more information: www.montefiore.org