On the 6th of April 2017 after 6 weeks of doctors trips, hospital trips, Infections, antibiotics and sleepless night for all of us, we were given the heart breaking news that no parents could ever imagine hearing of their child, that our beautifull baby girl Maggie had cancer. She was diagnosed with (A.L.L) Leukemia.

Our world stood still and we were in utter disbelief that our gorgeous 2 year old baby girl was soo poorly. Needless to say we were devastated and wanted nothing more than to get her the very best treatment as soon as possible. Maggie was taken the next day by ambulance to Queens Medical Center in Nottingham to begin specialist diagnosis and treatment On the childrens oncology ward E39. This was particularly difficult to deal with as not only did we have to leave Joey behind, but our forseeable future would be spent on a childrens cancer ward with our very poorly baby girl. Maggie spent some time here to start her chemotherapy treatment which included bone marrow aspirates, hickman line insertion, lumbar punctures and more blood and platelet transfusions than we can remember! Maggie stopped eating / walking and pretty much anything to do with moving off her bed in the hospital and so was fitted with a nasogastric (N.G) tube. This would ensure she took on neccessary fluids, food and drugs to get her well enough to return home to continue her treatment both at home and at Northampton General Hospital. Maggie is currently on her 5th chemotherapy cycle and has shown immense bravery in every step of her journey. We couldnt be more proud of her and she seems to be responding well to the treatment. Maggie is pretty much constantly neutropenic which means her little body is unable to fight off even the smallest infection or cold which results in a minimum 48 hr stay in Northampton General Hospital for IV antibiotics through her hickman line (wigglies). These trips seem to be a fairly regular occurrence but as usual, she takes all of this in her stride. Maggie is given daily chemotherapy drugs at home by us and also attends regular clinic visits for treatment in her hickman line along with having 12 weekly lumbar punctures and weekly visits from the community nurses to take bloods at home. This treatment will continue and will finish in June 2019.....at this point her hickman line is removed and a final bone marrow aspirate will be done to determine the success of the treatment.

We have tried hard to keep close family and friends updated along with everyone who asks after her regularly and we feel now that we would like to share our story. We want to help raise awarness for childhood cancer and also raise some money for the 2 incredible charities that have helped support both us as parents along with our beautifull Maggie and her superhero big brother Joey.

The 2 charities are CLIC sargent and Alfe's Cause.

CLIC sargent are a national charity that help support young lives with cancer. These amazing people first contacted us shortly after we arrived in Queens Medical Center in Nottingham and offered us endless support, knowledge and friendship whilst we came to terms with what would become our new "normal" lives. The CLIC Sargent team would always come in with a smile and helped enormously with anything that we didnt understand (LOADS) and the financial side of not knowing if or when either of us would be in any position to return to work. These people were AMAZING. They removed any unnecessary pressures which allowed us to focus solely on getting Maggie better and keeping Joey's day to day life as normal as possible whilst he stayed with family.

Alfe's cause are a local Northampton charity run by the INCREDIBLE Karen rogers. We were given the details of this charity by a community nurse from Northampton General Hospital and we got in contact with them when we had settled back in our home. Alfe's Cause runs lots of days out, trips, treats and monthly get togethers for Northampton based families affected by childhood cancers. These trips and treats are priceless to not only escape the day to day but also meet other families that are in the same situation as us. They are like an extra family! The most important thing that these events do, is allow both Maggie and Joey the chance to play with and meet other children with similar needs. Alfe's Cause run all events and trips free of charge, which alone is fantastic!

We do not expect any donations to come in without hard work! We, along with a team of friends and family will be doing the 2018 Great North Run on the 9th of september! We plan to raise as much money as possible to give a little back to these 2 fantastic charities that have not only helped us, but continue to do so for soo many other families of young children with cancer. When all donations are in and we have completed the run, we will split the donations between the 2 charities.

If you are able to help and support us, ANY donation is greatfully recieved and will be able to help keep these 2 charities doing what they do best!!