Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

This is our story about our little
girl called Ella~Rose. She was a happy little 2-year-old the younger sister of Livvy who was 8 and James who was 11. 

Life was busy my husband (Sid)
working long hours and I worked full time. We were expanding our landscaping
business and also building a new yard, show gardens and offices it really was a busy time! 

We had a lovely lady Kirsty Windle
who looked after the children the older 2 after school and Ella in the day
after nursery. I remember the first time Ella wasn't acting normal it was
Father’s Day June 15th 2008 we were having Father’s Day lunch at The Anchor at
Sutton Gault. Ella's arm and hand were stuck to her head and she couldn't move it. We kept telling her to stop it and eat her dinner but it carried on throughout
lunch. We put her to bed as usual and went to bed.

 When we woke we both decided to stay off work not
because of Ella we both just felt something was not right we both felt we should be at home but didn't know why.... 

We were both stood outside chatting
to our amazing neighbour Ron Harper who was around 80 (and has sadly passed
since) when Kirsty came out and said Ella was doing a weird thing with her arm
and she couldn't wake her. I started to call the GP and Ron said we needed an
ambulance and if I didn't call one he would I will never forget his words of she has a brain blockage!

 We called 999 and they sent a fast responder who got
to us very quickly and saw Ella stuck in her position this paramedic was called
Simon Wicker he was brilliant with us and really put us at ease. We didn't know
at the time but Simon knew that Ella had something wrong with her brain as he
had worked on a brain unit for many years! He even came up to see us on the
ward several days later to see how we all were. Many months after Simon
admitted that seeing Ella that day had affected him and he had to take a little
time out of his day for a chat with some colleagues to make him feel better as
he knew he was sending us off for bad news. We still keep in touch with Simon,
we feel very lucky to have someone working in our area that is so special and a
hero.

We got taken by an ambulance to
Addenbrooke’s and spent a few days in there on one of the children wards. We
thought the worst case was that Ella had epilepsy as her seizures were
happening all day and night, The meds they gave her helped a bit but we could
tell that the doctors were still looking for something, After days of tests and
waiting we got asked to go and see her consultant, The walk to his office was
the hardest and longest walk we would make, At this point we knew by how the
nurses were treating us that they knew we were walking into some terrible news! 

I still find it hard to talk about
what happened in the consultant’s office we came out with the news Ella had a
Brain tumour…. the days that followed were getting her meds right and talking
to her brother and sister and seeing family and explaining to them that she
would be going to GOSH (Great Ormond Street Hospital) to see specialist’s
there. 

Ella had a slow growing tumour so we
got to come home and get on with normal day to day things only now with a child
that had epilepsy and a brain tumour. 

I could now focus on the negatives
of people who gossip and love to tell people your story but thankfully we had
enough people around us to keep us safe and look after us all. When something
like this happens to you the last thing you need is people openly saying thank
god it wasn’t them going through it! Yes this did happen and much more!  

We had our family from Yorkshire
come down to help us and help our parents as they were looking after us so well
they needed someone looking after them! Days turned into months with endless
trips to GOSH for scans and appointments, GOSH were treating the brain tumour and Addenbrooke’s looked after her
epilepsy. 

Ella went back to nursery and Addenbrooke’s
sent a nurse to teach them how to look after Ella and what to do in an
emergency. A couple of times they had some horrible emergencies with Ella but
they handled it well and we will always be thankful to them for letting her go
to school and looking after her so well.  

So the meeting happened that the
tumour had started to get bigger and it was time to have it removed! So all
systems go we booked an apartment opposite GOSH my parents came with us and my
sister looked after James and Livvy. 

The night before the op was a long
one I don’t think any of us slept apart from Ella who took everything in her
stride, Nothing troubled her, even being put to sleep! She had got so good at it
she didn’t need any numbing cream or anything they could just put the needle
in. The anaesthetist was very impressed with her she was such a brave girl.
Unlike her Mummy and Daddy who cried at most things! 

Again I find talking about the hours
of her operation hard, you cry, you nip pick at each other and stare at notice
boards but don’t take anything in! The time she should have come out came and
went the seconds turn into hours! We got the call to come and see her. YAY!
Before she went into the operation we were told she would lose much of the
feeling in her left arm and with physiotherapy she would be able to use it again
but it might always be weak. The first thing she did was squeeze my hand with
her left hand!!! It was like when you give birth and the baby grips your little
finger for the first time, It’s amazing our little fighter was going to be fine! 

So we were left with now was just the epilepsy
and a stammer, epilepsy is not an easy condition to live with and any person
living with it is an inspiration to all. 

After 8 years her epilepsy reduced
so much we could come off her meds and still have our fingers crossed that it
stays away. 

Ella today 2018! She is beautiful,
strong minded! Has a brilliant time at school where she has lots of friends. Her
school have been amazing throughout her journey from aged 2 and a half to age
12 now. Her passion is riding, family, seeing her friends, shopping, sports,
her ponies and cats. She still has her stammer. Which we go to therapy for. She
has good days and bad but she has ways of getting around it. Ella is amazing.

We are doing this for The Brain
tumour charity as just on Ella’s day of surgery there were 3 other children
having brain tumours removed! The charity needs more awareness and money to
help families like ours that were going along a normal path one day and the
next we were on the rollercoaster of a brain tumour! 

Please give anything you can it would mean
the world to us and Ella, Who for the first time has let me write about what
happened to her. She has set the target of £300, fingers crossed we can do it for Ella
and other families coping with Brain Tumours X Thank You from Ella~Rose and her
Family XXXXXXXX

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