Alice was born by caesarian on February 5th 2008 and although she was very small she was allowed home after two weeks of observation and tests.
Three weeks after being allowed home Alice began having seizures and was admitted back into the local hospital. Unfortunately this hospital was not equipped to deal with Alice's condition and her health deteriorated rapidly. Alice progressed to status epilepticus and was then retrieved to Glenfields Hospital by their paediatric critical care team, using their specialised neonate transfer system. Upon arrival at Glenfields, she was stabilised in a critical condition and maintained in a medically induced coma. The facilities and expertise at Glenfields surpassed all expectation and the staff were first class as well as being approachable and providing support to us and our family. Accommodation was provided on site which made this time a little easier for all of us as we could stay with Alice at all times. This accommodation was funded by charitable donations from previous families and supporters and we hope to help other famlies that need this help in future.
Whilst Alice was staying at Glenfields we had access to the most modern diagnostic, monitoring and treatment options and we will always be grateful that we had this immediately available at all times.
Alice was transferred to the other Leicester hospitals site at Leicester Royal Infirmary for further investigation of her seizures where her condition was slowly brought under control and she was brought out of her coma.
At the end of March Alice came back home with an excellent care plan and support network initiated. Despite a few setbacks along the way Alice has continued to improve, has gradually gained weight and is surpassing all expectations of her ability to recover from such a serious neurological condition.
Now in 2010 Alice is two years old and continues to make progress. We have met massive milestones that would have never been possible without the amazing skills of the Glenfield and Leiciester Royal teams.We have enjoyed so many precious moments that we could never have imagined possible. Alice was a flower girl at Aunty Marie and Uncle Chris's wedding last year, and at the beginning of this year she started walking! And obviously Alice has been sat on various horses and is super keen on all the meangerie of pets we have.
The team of consultants who we first met in Leicester still play a vital role in caring for Alice and the work that Leicester Hospitals do is never ending. Although we are outpatients now, they continue to support us and there are still many many children who pass through their doors needing their help.
This year we will be continung to fundraise- starting of course with the obligitory 2 Castles run in Warwick for Mark, Thad and Chris. Once we have got our dates for other events confirmed we will put them online so you can keep track of our progress and plans for this year. Unfortunately Helen's injury has ruled her out of running as she is still ( one year on!) lame folowing a riding accident but we will continue to raise money and try and give back to Leicester hospitals.
For photos from Alice's first year see:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102315&id=739650931&l=8a74cc6c4c
