A Bug in my head...The story of Ella, her mum and her little sister, Charlotte. My friends

This was Ella's understanding of her Ependymoma. Us adults call them 'brain tumours', but it's hard to explain the words 'brain' and 'tumour' to little girl or boy.. It's a scary term, isn't it?

Ella was diagnosed with her ependymoma when she was two and half years of age, and was quickly immersed into a hospital environment and a series of intensive treatments. She was immediately placed on steroids in preparation for surgery, which she had soon after. The skill of the surgeons over the course of that ten and half hour procedure enabled them to reduce the size of a tumour from the size of a fifty pence piece to that of a five pence. Regrettably, the positioning of the tumour deep within the brain and wrapping itself around the top of the spinal cord, meant that not all of it could be removed. Operating to a remove a tumour in this area would have, most likely, led to severe physical disability. The risks were just too high...

Nobody ever used the words 'terminal' at this stage. And the fear that a parent experiences at times like this means that the question is not asked. And because there's hope. There's always 'hope'

Following surgery came the chemo-therapy and then the radio therapy, which resulted in massive physical reactions and changes. From a happy and healthy toddler, Ella was transformed into a shadow of her former self. But, unlike us adults, she never complained once throughout these times. Not once

Thanks to doctors and nursing staff at Addenbrookes, the cancer went into remission and the Ella of old returned. For a time. Like any other little girl, she wanted to have long hair, she dressed as a princess, played with her dolls, wanted to play outside, go to school, make friends, and refused to eat her vegetables at every meal time

It was important at that time to view her as some more than just a 'child with cancer'. What defined her was her smile, her infectious laugh, her kindness toward everyone, her love of anything slapstick, her hatred of any food that was green, her love of Wotsits, The Tiger that Came to Tea, The Hungry Caterpillar and 'I love to Boogie'. And. of course, her bravery. 

Alas, 'the bug' in Ella's head returned and her mother, Lorna, was faced with the most difficult decisions. Again the chemo-therapy began, along with the to and fro to Addenbrookes, the CT and MRI scans, and finally, the news that no parent ever wishes to hear; that the treatments weren't working and the turmour was growing. 

At 10.32pm on 6th May 2006 Ella died peacefully at home, with people around that loved her. She's no longer in any pain

East Anglian Children's Hospices (EACH) is a charitable organisation that helps families with children that are extremely poorly, whether it be through terminal illness or severe disability. Staff are on hand to help parents and siblings cope with the heartbreak of terminal illness. They provide respite care for parents that are exhausted from providing 24/7 care, play therapies and grief counselling for siblings, and an environment within their units that help to make things just a little more bearable.

 

This is why I'm doing the ride....

What's in it for you?? Well, aside from donating to this great local chairity, if you are generous enough in spirit to sponsor £10 or more you will gain the opportunity to enter my competition in which you can guess how long this ride will take me. Please visit reveloutdoors.co.uk for details (Rules apply). Make sure that you make a note of your Just Giving reference number as you'll need it to enter....

Follow me, the training - broken bikes bits and body - and the ride on Facebook and Twitter PaulsTransAm (Will insert a link to that when I can work out how!!! I can do it with the others :-/

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