Hi Everyone, Thank you for visiting my Just Giving page which I hope will help raise money for Schiehallion ward & Yorkhill Hospital for Sick Children.

My name is Charlie Hopkins, I am 6 years old. On 11th November 2009 I was diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma (a rare cancer of the lymph nodes).
I was ill very quickly & was admitted to the Schiehallion ward in Yorkhill Hospital for sick children where I started chemotherapy straight away. I had a chest drain inserted as my lungs and stomach were filling up with fluid & I had pneumonia.  I also had a central line inserted for all my chemotherapy treatments and drugs to go into my body which we call my "wigglies"!

I got my chemotherapy every 21 days & it lasted for 7 days, i also needed 2 lumber punctures every time i got my chemo which stopped the tumours from going into my spinal fluid & into my brain.

When i first started my chemotherapy i was very sick & got ulcers in my lips, mouth & throat which meant I couldn't eat or drink so I had to have a feeding tube inserted to make sure I got all the vitamins & nutrients my body needed.

I was in the Schiehallion ward for 5 1/2 weeks before i got home for 3 days.

For all the time i was in hospital, my Mum or Dad always stayed with me & once I started to feel better there was lots for me to do.  There is a classroom on the ward where I went to school & my teachers in hospital worked with my teachers at my school to make sure I had the same work as my classmates. I also got to e-mail my class to tell them how I was & they told me how much they missed me and wanted me to get well.

There was a playroom where I could go & play with my new friends on the ward, we could draw, paint & make things. It had lots of DVD's & computer games i could borrow for my room.

Every Thursday the clowns would come to the ward, they were very funny, they would make me laugh, sing & do silly things (my little sister Ellis didnt like them though!).

There is also a special cinema in the hospital where I could go & watch all the latest films which was great as i could take my family & friends with me too.

I was in hospital over Christmas & New Year getting my chemotherapy but I still had lots of fun.  We had a Christmas party in the ward & Santa was there with his funny elves. My favourite football players from Rangers came to visit.  Santa came into my room on Christmas morning with a sack of presents for me & then 3 days later I got to go home and see what Santa had left for me there!

All the Doctors, Nurses & all the staff on the Schiehallion ward are all fantastic & they always made me laugh & had good fun even if I wasnt feeling well. I have made lots of very special friends from the ward.

My Just Giving page is for me, my family & friends to raise money for the Schiehallion ward & Yorkhills Childrens Foundation to thank them for all the great things they do & for how well they look after all the sick boys & girls.

Here is a list of events me, my family & friends are going to do -

My Mum, Aunties & friends are going to run the womens 10k on 9th May 2010 - Names below:

Sam Hopkins, Lynsey McLellan, Donna Pelosi, Kirsty Milliken,  Catherine McCormack, Susan Connor,  Maggie Connor, Nicola Truten,  Karen Pelosi, Elizabeth Crawley, Elizabeth Anne Forest, Denise McCandlish,  Katie Bulloch, Kerry Gunn, AnneMarie Thomson,  Ashleigh Christie, Tanya Taylor-Smith, Nicole Hinds, Claire Hopkins, Serene Brown, Amanda Barclay, Lorraine McMaster & Jacqui Ramsay.

My Dad, Uncles & friends are walking the West Highland Way (date to be confirmed)
Me and my school are going to have a fundraising day (date to be confirmed)
My family & friends have organised a big fundraiser night on 21st May 2010

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who sent me get well messages, prayers, cards & gifts. I put all my cards, drawings & photos on my "happy wall" in my room which I looked at to cheer me up if I was feeling sad.

Thank you for looking at my page,

Lots of Love, Charlie xx

UPDATE - 9th March 2010!!

Last night me and my Mum got to go on our first special day out at XFACTOR!!!! I was very lucky and got to go backstage and meet all the finalists who were all really nice, especially my favourites Jedward & Joe!!  I had great fun and would like to say a special thanks to Les Hoey who arranged for me and my friends from the ward to go and have a great night out! I have added my pictures for you to see. Love Charlie xx

UPDATE - 10th March 2010!! :)

Today i had the best news ever, my chemotherapy has been successful and i have no more Burkitts left in my body, my scans were all clear and i go back into Yorkhill on 22nd March to get my "wigglies" out. 

 My Mum & Dad are arranging a fancy dress party for me, my friends and family to celebrate, i cant wait for this!! love Charlie xx

ps - Thank you so much to everyone for donating to my page, we cannot believe how generous everyone has been and how much I have raised for Yorkhill/Schiehallion already!! Thank you to all my Dads friends at his work - City Technical for their lovely card and gift to me it was very kind xxxxx

 

Update 1st May 2010!!!

Sorry i've not been on in a while, i've been a very busy boy! i have been keeping well and I'm back at school most days and my hair has grown back enough for me to have a spikey hair-do!! (nearly a Jedward!!)        

I still attend Yorkhill for checkups every month and my next one is 5th May, so will keep you updated on how i get on although i know everything is hunky dory!

I had a celebration fancy dress party for all my friends and it was great fun, my mum and dad hired a big fire engine to take me to my party which was a great surprise for me!!

My big cousins Jack McCormack, Francis Crawley & wee Jacob Crawley ran the 5k North Glasgow run last Sunday raising over £200 for Yorkhill, they managed the run in a fantastic time of under 30 mins. Maybe they can give Charlie's Angels tips on how to run in a good time!! Im sure all the girls in Charlie's Angels will do well as they have all been training hard and I will be there at the end of the run to cheer them on!!

I went to WWE at Braehead Arena with my Dad and it was awesome!!! We had near front row seats so i was close up to all my wrestling heroes!

I also had my dream day at Ibrox & Murray Park with my uncle Ally, we got to see the team training, had tours of Murray park & Ibrox & had lunch there too, i got to meet my hero Alan McGregor!!! I have put some new pictures on here for you to see.

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to my page, i have reached my total already and still have plenty more fundraising to go!!

My Uncle Dava's football team Barrhill are holding a fundraising football match at Twechar park on Sat 15th May - we are all looking forward to that!!

We have our big fundraising night on 21st May in Moodiesburn - tickets sold out already!!

Will be back with more updates soon

Lots of Love Charlie xxx

Update July 2010!!

My Big fundraiser night on 21st May went brilliantly...with everyones help on the night we raised over £5500!! which has been split between - Click Sergeant, Callums Cabins (which provides holidays for all the sick boys and girls with doctors & nurses on site) & Les Hoey's Christmas Party fund, Les makes sure all the boys and girls from Schiehallion have a great christmas by having a party with a special guest - Santa!! who gives all the boys and girls presents! We had great raffle & auction prizes so a big thank you to all who donated prizes helping us raise so much on the night.

Charlies Angels who ran the 10k done really well too! they were second out of all the teams running!! so a big well done to all the girls!! some of the girls even managed to run the 10k in under an hour!!

I am still keeping well and enjoying being back to normal and playing with all my friends. I still attend Yorkhill every month for check ups and will keep doing this for a few years.

 

A big thank you and lots of kisses to everyone who has donated to my page and helped with all my fundraising, My Mum & Dad are very proud of me for raising so much for the charities,  i will keep up my fundraising as a big thank you to Yorkhill and Schiehallion Ward and all the other charities involved with them.

 

lots and lots of love Charlie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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