Hi all
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Sophie fell ill with an extremely rare form of childhood cancer - Rhabdoid Cancer - in October of last year. She was extremely ill and was very well looked after by Great Ormond Street Hospital. They did all they could for her and once we were told that she would not survive this awful disease, it was suggested that she went to a hospice. The thought of her going there, for us, was an awful idea. Just the word "Hospice" sent shivers through our spines. We had no idea what sort of place it was but presumed it to be very clinical, full of dying people with uncaring nurses - not the sort of place we wanted our gorgeous daughter to go.
It was really hard when we had to make the decision for her to go to Keech. The nurses from Lister Hospital had told us what a wonderful place it was and so, when faced with the option of her dying at home or at the hospice, we had to make the big decision of taking her to the hospice. The thought of her dying at home was just too much for us.
The minute we walked through Keech Childrens' Hospice we knew it was the right place for her. It was small, only five bedrooms, but her room was full of cuddly toys, big windows and bright sunshine came through the window. It was large, with plenty of space for Kos and me to stay and plenty of room for us to sit down, give her cuddles and spend time with her out of bed. They had even given us a room where we could stay with the boys anytime we wanted to.
Where Great Ormond Street had tried their hardest to keep on top of the pain and discomfort she was in, Keech managed to make her feel comfortable within forty-eight hours of her being there. The nurses were absolutely amazing, taking away all of the responsibility of her medication, meaning that all we had to worry about was spending time cuddling and playing with our little girl.
She had been there a week when I had a feeling we didnt have long left with her so I arranged for her brothers, Jack and Toni, to come up and spend a couple of days with her. The day they arrived, Father Christmas came to see all three of them and give them presents. Sophie wasnt really responding by then but the staff at Keech made sure that she was still spoken too, played with (she seemed to love the music therapy) and they even made sure that we spent half an hour with her in their wonderful sensory pool. That was the last time she ever responded to our voices. She died that Sunday.
When Sophie passed away they were so supportive. We still see one of the nurses now who pops round for a cup of tea to see how we are doing. They tried to make sure that we had many memories of sophie, they gave us a DVD of her with Santa and had a hand and foot plastercast for us.
Keech rely solely on donations to keep going. It feels like a private hospital when you are in there and everyone who walks through the door is fed and kept happy with lots of tea, coffee etc and very well looked after.
They did everything that they could for us as a family and we couldnt have asked for any better care than she received from there so please, please donate something towards this wonderful cause.
Lots of love
Hayley
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