Hope For Holly
Holly was diagnosed a week before her 4th birthday, she is normally a happy little girl with enormous amounts of energy. Holly lives with her parents and baby sister in Marton, Middlesbrough.
Holly had been poorly before and during our holiday to Portugal, she had been sick, was pale and had no energy. Her skin was bruising easily and she complained of tummy ache. On our return we went out to lunch with family and following the tiny amount of she ate, Holly cried complaining of tummy ache and fell asleep in the car on the way home. We were extremely worried so used the NHS call back service when we got home. We were sent to a health centre and the doctor there felt Holly’s tummy and noticed that she was pale, he sent us to James Cook University Hospital Paediatrics day assessment unit.
They decided to carry out a blood test, Holly was very scared but got through it without making a sound. A short while later the doctor came back and give us the news no parent ever wants to hear, Holly almost definitely had Leukaemia and would be transferred to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) first thing the next morning.
The worst day in the history of our lives, it instantly felt like someone had ripped out our insides, we wished it were us.
Holly was very poorly in the first 4 weeks of treatment complaining of stomach pains on a regular basis, she had many trips back to the RVI but they couldn’t find out why her tummy was hurting. We knew something was not right! On Friday 29th June the doctors decided to carry out a scan of her stomach which showed lots of free air suggesting a perforated bowel, we knew this could make her very very poorly and the doctors need to operate straight away, doctors and nurses were rushing around trying to get fluids into Holly, she was taken to theatre at 10:30pm. This was the hardest day of all as not only was she suffering from Leukaemia but a possible perforated bowel. It was discovered once under anaesthetic that her appendix had burst. After a 5 hour operation Holly spent the night in Intensive Care (ICU)
During her treatment Holly will be a very poorly young girl as side effects of the chemotherapy can and regulary do include: nausea/vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, alopecia, weight loss and weight gain, extreme fatigue, lethargy, dizziness and mucositis (extremely painful mouth and throat ulcers) Further more Holly will be highly susceptible to infection, which could prove to be life threatening, as her immune system will be suppressed due to the chemotherapy she will receive, any rise or fall in temperature will result in urgent medical advice or hospital admission where she could require 3-10 days of treatment with intravenous antibiotics.
Holly will undergo treatment for Leukaemia for the next 2 years and even after this will require regular monitoring for the rest of her life.
We aim to raise as much money as possible to aid research into Leukaemia and other blood cancers; to improve treatments and survival rates for sufferers. We also wish to support sufferers and their families providing equipment and facilities for Ward 4 & 14 of The Great North Children’s Hospital Newcastle RVI who treat children with all types of cancer from the North including North Yorkshire, Teesside, Tyne & Wear and Cumbria.
