The Waiting Room — Vellumwise

The premise

Lena becomes her father’s interpreter, scheduler, medication manager and advocate overnight. As his tablets multiply, she learns to read evidence, prepare for appointments and look after herself — never replacing his doctors, but no longer afraid of them.

The protagonist

Lena Kovač — Freelance translator becoming the main carer for her father, who has heart failure

The council

Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.

Dr Aurelio Banfield

retired general practitioner

Kind but direct; dislikes jargon

Nadia Strandberg

patient advocate

Persistent; insists carers have a voice

Prof. Ines Caldwell-Moyo

evidence-based-medicine educator

Rigorous; always asks how good the evidence is

Farida Hollins

clinical pharmacist

Methodical; finds the problem hiding in the pill box

How the story moves

Eighteen months of illness; Lena’s competence grows as her father declines, and the series ends with a well-handled transition rather than a cure.

What readers take away

Understand a chronic diagnosis and its likely course
Prepare focused questions for appointments
Relative versus absolute risk
Medication reviews and the risks of many medicines
Recognise side effects and interactions
Carer’s rights and carer’s assessments
Shared decision-making
Advance care planning conversations
Recognising and managing carer burnout
Use the NHS complaints process constructively
Understand hospital discharge planning
Arrange respite care

The books

1The diagnosis Planned
2The appointments Planned
3Nine tablets Planned
4The carer Planned
5The hospital Planned
6Choices Planned

Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.