Hi,
Thank you so much for visiting my page.....
I have spent the last few weeks deciding what I could do to raise as much money as I can for the Children's Heart Surgery Fund as it comes up to the first anniversary of Holly's open heart surgery at Leeds General Infirmary.
Well I finally decided on a Tandem Skydive from 10,000 feet!!! (if any one else would like to have a go please let me know as it can be arranged!!). I will be 'jumping' on Saturday 20th November, exactly one year on from Holly's operation.
The day after Holly was born in April 2009 we were told that she had a problem with her heart but they weren't sure what. A week later was the worst day of our lives when we were told she had a large hole in her heart. The next few months were a blur as we seemed to go from test to test and a different diagnosis every few weeks. After just over six months we finally got the call to say that she was scheduled for surgery on Friday 20th November. We were relieved to get the call but also scared about what was ahead of us all.
Thursday 19th November arrived and we went to Leeds General Infirmary that morning. Myself and Holly stayed that night and she was operated on at 8am Friday morning. She was having the large hole patched and also had to have a repair to one of her valves which was too narrow. The next six hours were the worst you can imagine but thankfully the operation went well and amazingly after only five days we were able to come home.
From that day Holly has slowly but surely built her strength and is now a thriving 18 month old who is trying to desperately take her first un-assisted steps. We're back to see the heart specialists in April for a follow up but have our fingers crossed she won't need any further treatment.
A major part of our last 18 months have been the staff, surgeons and specialists at LGI. To help them continue the fantastic work they do for children of all ages with congenital heart conditions we want to make the fund which helps keep the ward operating and providing some comfort at extremely testing and stressful times as bearable as they do.
The Children's Heart Surgery Fund is a registered charity based at the Yorkshire Heart Centre in Leeds General Infirmary. This centre covers Yorkshire, Humberside and the North Midlands.
The CHSF funds valuable equipment, resources and research for the treatment of children with heart defects and provides a happy and relaxed atmosphere within the hospital for both the children and their families.
Every year 10,000 children pass through our paediatric heart unit at the LGI and approximately 330 of these undergo open heart surgery. Over 40% will need long term care.
Thank you for reading our story and any donation you are able to make will be so gratefully received.
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