Update and Thank you! (July 2022)

So, 5 months after we started off down this difficult journey, with EXCEPTIONAL aftercare from Leicester Hospital, we have recieved a really positive update that Finleys heart is now back to completley normal function and will now be able to continue with his life completely normally.

Now we have had this news it seems fitting to bring a closure to our fundraiser which has raised £2000 (£1000 for each charity that we selected).

We would like to thank everybody who has given money towards this, we are hoping that this will go some way to helping other children and their families who find them selves in the kind of situation that we did. It is also with sadness that some familys have not been/will not be as lucky as we have been with Finleys recovery so this fundraising will hopefully go skeway to trying to help peple even more in the future.

There were also a significant ammunt of toys purchased by various people for the wards amazon wishlist. The toys certainly kept Finleys spirits up and i am sure this will do the same for other children.

In addition to this we would also like to thank people for thier emotional and practical support throughout, all of which has helped immensely.

Finley now has a new found love of dinosaurs and is now developing well and is interested and enthusiastic in everything that life has to offer.

even though he cannt say it yet, i am sure that if he coukd he wouid say Thank you to every single person who has helped in any way.

Thank you

Laura, Grant and Finley

-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—

Original Post (March 2022)

As many of our friends and family know, our 13 month old son, Finley, was admitted into Royal Derby Hospital A&E on 28th February with a chest infection. On 1st March, following X-rays and scans, it was found that the chest infection was being caused by a significant issue with Finley's heart. It had a narrowing (Coarctation) of the Aorta. This meant that his heart had been working extra hard for over a year and had swollen due to the heart muscle overworking.

We were all rushed straight to Leicester Royal Infirmary to the Cardiac Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (CPICU), where we were told that Finley's heart was failing and needed urgent open heart surgery. We were also told that this surgery would be high risk due to the size of his heart which would not likely react well with the anesthesia and would probably cause cardiac arrest.

We so very very grateful to say that his operation was a success, both Finley and the medical team pulled out all of the stops on the day and after nearly 3 weeks of us all living in the ward in Leicester Royal Infirmary we are now home. Finley will continue to be on medication and have reviews at Leicester.

During our time at Leicester, we noticed that a lot of things were provided by two main charities, Heartlink and KeepTheBeat.

Between them they provided things such as medical equipment, bedside sensory equipment (which Finley loved!) and one thing that made things a lot more bearable was the fact that they fund parents bedrooms on the ward. As simple as these rooms seem, they were an absolute necessity and meant that we were always close to Finley and could both be there to support him and each other.

In addition to this, there are also apartments close to the hospital for those families who need to stay for longer periods of time.

Without the help of these charities, it would have made this last month even more difficult than we could even have imagined, and this is why we would like to fundraise for both of these.

In addition to this, we would also like to state our thanks to the people who found this problem with Finley's heart and who have got him through the surgery and are continuing to care for him on a regular basis. There have been so many staff who have helped:

The fantastic Nurses and Healthcare Assistants who have provided pretty much 1:1 care 24/7 and have been great with Finley both medically and uplifting him by smiling, talking, waving and playing.

The Doctors who have been making plans for Finley's care and the best recovery.

The occupational therapists/physios who worked with Finley to get him sitting up again and playing after the surgery.

The Dieticians who have made plans for him to eat and start to put weight on after his surgery.

The housekeepers who made sure we got lunch and tea so that we had the energy to keep supporting Finley.

The surgeons who did the surgery on the day and helped with aftercare such as removing drains and stiches.

The Anaesthetist who got Finley through the surgery without him having cardiac arrests.

The play specialists who played with Finley after his surgery to get him back to enjoying toys again.

To all of our friends and family who supported us during this time.

Thank you All!