An insight in Scarletts journey......

Scarlett has suffered from repeated upper respiratory infection problems from a very early age and has been In and out of hospital many times. In October last year she was taken ill after repeated infections to her through treatment, ears and chest and being generally unwell. The hospital diagnosed her with lymes disease and told us that she could be poorly for some time with a weakened immune system and being very lethargic in herself. With her 4th birthday approaching we decided to take her to Matlock in the caravan for the weekend to see the lights and to celebrate her birthday. Unfortunately she became ill again and we ended up at the emergency doctors resulting in her birthday being cancelled. We came home and continued to look after her but she was still unable to go to school and interact with other children as she was simply took weak. We tried to make Christmas the best we could for her but she was still very up and down.

At the beginning of this year we went to see a private consultant to see if they could give any additional advice and support but the only advice they could give was to try and mix her with smaller groups rather than the larger classes. On this advice we moved her to a local preschool which have been absolutely amazing and she thoroughly loves.

Unfortunately last Thursday she was poorly at school and continued to deteriorate really quickly and was admitted to hospital with sepsis and later diagnosed with the flu. Needless to say she has been very poorly but will be sent home today on the basis that she is at more risk in hospital of getting a secondary infection than she is at home. We have been advised that she clearly has a weak upper respiratory system so if we see her starting with any illness what so ever, we need to keep her at home while she recovers. She obviously isn’t going to be able to lead the life of a healthy 4 year old but hopefully this is something she will grow out of as she gets stronger and older.

My eldest daughter Kaitlyn came to me a few days ago and told me that she had been reading all about therapy rooms for poorly children and asked me to listen to her idea and in her words she said...... “Mum, before you say no please just listen to me.... you know the shed in the back garden, well I have been thinking that it would be amazing if we could turn it into a therapy room for Scarlett where she can go and play and have some fun and I was thinking that we could have a corner where there is a rabbit (as Scarlett had always wanted a rabbit), some lights to make her feel happy as I have been reading all about how lights can help children feel better and maybe even some bean bags so we can sit and play together and to give Scarlett as safe place to go when she is maybe feeling poorly and can’t go to school”.

I didn’t say anything in reply, I just hugged her and told her what a lovely idea and I would think about it. Apparently she has already saved £40 of her own money to put towards it .

Unfortunately as lovely as this idea is the realism of the idea is a bit of a bigger picture as although the shed is fully insulated it would need new felt on the roof, electrics wiring through from the house, a new floor, wood to build a rabbit enclosure, meshing, lighting and heating and this is going to cost a bit for that £40 so I am going to do everything I can do make this happen for them both as I am in full agreement that it would be lovely to be able to do this for Scarlett and to see them both so happy would make my day so I am going to reach out to the public to see if people would be willing to donate a small amount to make this a reality for Scarlett.

Kaitlyn doesn’t want Scarlett to know anything as she wants it to be a complete surprise for her.

We will obviously keep everyone updated on Scarlett’s progress and the progress of the proposed play/therapy room.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.