ECHO Newsletter Summer 2012 - Evelina Children's Heart ...
ECHO Newsletter Summer 2012 - Evelina Children's Heart ...
ECHO Newsletter Summer 2012 - Evelina Children's Heart ...
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<strong>ECHO</strong> <strong>Newsletter</strong> Issue 65<br />
<strong>Newsletter</strong><br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
Inside this edition: Meet our new members of staff | Safe and Sustainable decision announced – how it<br />
will affect your family | Dr Owen Miller becomes <strong>ECHO</strong> Patron!<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> FAMILY DAY<br />
On Saturday 16th June we held our<br />
fourth <strong>ECHO</strong> Family Day at the Grange<br />
City Hotel in London, overlooking the<br />
Tower of London.<br />
The event was attended by over sixty<br />
families. Members enjoyed informative<br />
presentations, a delicious lunch followed<br />
by afternoon workshops and a<br />
wonderful three course evening meal.<br />
The children were kept busy and<br />
entertained all day and evening! It was<br />
a fantastic event and gave members the<br />
opportunity to learn, share experiences<br />
with other families and socialise in a<br />
lovely setting.<br />
The highlight of the day for many was<br />
Hannah Phillips's amazing one-woman<br />
show Hannah's <strong>Heart</strong> Beat. Turn to<br />
page 22 to read Hannah's story, so far!<br />
We would like to thank Dr Owen Miller<br />
and Monica McCaffrey for their<br />
interesting and informative<br />
presentations. Also we would like to<br />
thank the four workshop facilitators:<br />
Suzie Hutchinson, Michelle Miles,<br />
Louise Derbyshire and Monica who<br />
very kindly gave a presentation and a<br />
workshop!<br />
Finally, thank you to Amanda Pipe and<br />
her team Creche on Location for<br />
keeping the under-fives happy. Clare<br />
Perrett and many volunteers from the<br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> who looked after the six to ten<br />
year olds and took them on an exciting<br />
trip to London zoo for most of the day!<br />
Jon Brunskill, the Youth Leader for Little<br />
<strong>Heart</strong>s Matter, gave a huge amount of<br />
assistance, not only in planning and<br />
organising activities and an outing for<br />
the ETC gang, but also in running the<br />
day. He, along with Olivia Hutchinson<br />
and Rich Wilson,<br />
plus some<br />
volunteers from<br />
the <strong>Evelina</strong>, gave<br />
the teens a<br />
wonderful day to<br />
remember! To<br />
read more<br />
about the day<br />
from Rachel<br />
Ward, an ETC<br />
member, turn<br />
to page 23.<br />
Jessica<br />
Cattermole<br />
Wheldal kids<br />
Turn to pages 22 and 23 to read the latest ETC news!<br />
Main photo: Valentina See pages 6-9<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> member Jodie Mills with<br />
Dr Owen Miller<br />
Nathan with Obama<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> (<strong>Evelina</strong> <strong>Children's</strong> <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation Ltd) is a registered charity, no. 1146494.<br />
Registered as a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales, no. 7867592.<br />
All correspondence PO Box 597, Chatham, ME4 9DS. Registered Address 145 – 157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PW
CONTENTS<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> NEWS<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> NEWS<br />
Page 2-5 <strong>ECHO</strong> News<br />
Page 6-9 Valentina's story<br />
Page 10 Milestones<br />
Page 11-13 Hospital news<br />
Page 14-21 Fundraising<br />
Page 22-23 ETC news<br />
Page 24 <strong>ECHO</strong> Contact details<br />
Coffee morning in Brighton<br />
New Area Contact Nicki Morgan is holding<br />
a coffee morning at her home in Brighton<br />
on Tuesday 16th October. For more details<br />
please email Becky at Becky@echoevelina.org.uk<br />
Christmas Party<br />
The <strong>ECHO</strong> Christmas party will be on<br />
Sunday 9th December, please keep the<br />
date free, and more information will be<br />
sent to you in November.<br />
Coffee morning in Lewisham<br />
Area Contact for London, Eleanor Beardsley,<br />
will be holding a coffee morning at her<br />
home in Lewisham on Wednesday 12<br />
September 10am - midday. Please contact<br />
her on south.london@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
for more details.<br />
Get together in Gillingham<br />
Monday 20th August, 10.30am - 12.30pm.<br />
All members invited to FUN DRUM an<br />
indoor children’s play area. Please contact<br />
Emma Orpin on or at admin@echoevelina.org.uk<br />
for more details.<br />
Fundraising Bag Pack in Chatham<br />
Emma Orpin is holding a Fundraising Bag<br />
Pack at Asda Superstore Chatham, Friday<br />
24th August, 11am–<br />
4pm. Email<br />
admin@echoevelina.org.uk<br />
if<br />
you would like to<br />
help!<br />
Dates for<br />
your Diary<br />
AREA CONTACTS<br />
NEW SUSSEX AREA CONTACT<br />
Sadly I need to pass on my 'Area Contact for Sussex' role, but I have<br />
found a wonderful member Nicki Morgan to take over. Nicki came to my<br />
last coffee morning, heard me talking about needing to pass on the role,<br />
and kindly offered to take over!<br />
Hi, I'm Nicki and I live in Brighton with my husband Mark and our two<br />
children, Joe and Finley.<br />
Finley was born in June 2011, and had open heart surgery when he was<br />
4 months old to repair a large VSD, PDA<br />
and Aortic co-arctation, just a week after<br />
being diagnosed. He is now doing really<br />
well and smiling again!<br />
Nicki<br />
I look forward to welcoming new <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
members in the Sussex Area and invite<br />
existing and new members to the next<br />
coffee morning on Tuesday 16th<br />
October in Brighton.<br />
For details about Nicki's coffee<br />
morning please contact Becky.<br />
I would like to thank Rosie Wheldal for sharing the role of<br />
Area Contact for Sussex with me for so many years and for<br />
her help in supporting so many members.<br />
WE ARE LOOKING FOR A NEW AREA<br />
CONTACTS FOR KENT AND NORFOLK<br />
Fran Wintour has been Area Contact for Kent for many years. We are<br />
looking to replace her with preferably two Area Contacts, to share the<br />
role, as it is such a large area with so many members! We would like<br />
to say a huge thank you to Fran for all the support she has offered to<br />
members in Kent over the last few years.<br />
Molly Crisp has also been Area Contact for a few years so we would<br />
like to thank her for her help in supporting members in Norfolk. If you<br />
live in Norfolk and would like to take over from Molly, then please<br />
contact Becky for more details.<br />
If you would like to become Area Contact for Kent or Norfolk, please<br />
contact Becky for more details. The role is very rewarding and does not<br />
require too much of your time. It involves welcoming new members by<br />
email or phone (details of new members will be passed on to you by<br />
Emma) and it is good to hold a coffee morning twice a year so that<br />
local members get the opportunity to meet each other.<br />
Jessica Cattermole<br />
Please make sure we have an up-to-date email address for you to<br />
ensure you get all our email updates and invitations.<br />
Send to Emma Orpin on admin@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
INTRODUCING EMMA<br />
Hi, everyone – I’m Emma Orpin and I am the<br />
Administrative Assistant for the <strong>ECHO</strong> team.<br />
My nephew was diagnosed with TGA at his<br />
22 week anomaly scan and my sister and<br />
her husband had to go through the very<br />
difficult and challenging situation of facing a<br />
life saving operation on their small son. They were extremely<br />
Emma and her<br />
sister Jodie<br />
grateful for the support that <strong>ECHO</strong> provided them during that<br />
time, and since, and this role felt like the perfect way to give<br />
something back to <strong>ECHO</strong> and use my skills to help other families<br />
in similar circumstances.<br />
My role is to provide high quality administrative support to Jo,<br />
Becky and the other members of the <strong>ECHO</strong> team. I hope that the<br />
work that I do can make a difference to other families when they<br />
need it.<br />
My entire working career has been in the NHS working for local<br />
organisations in Kent, and I continue to work for the NHS on a<br />
part time basis as well as working for <strong>ECHO</strong>. I am married with<br />
three children and a step son so I have plenty to keep me<br />
occupied. In what free time I have, I<br />
enjoy reading, the cinema and<br />
walking but I am also part of a<br />
mums Street Dancing group! My<br />
usual working hours will be 9 - 3<br />
Monday to Wednesday and you<br />
can reach me on 07715208077<br />
or emma@echo-evelina.org.uk.<br />
GOODBYE FROM JESSICA<br />
Emma’s family<br />
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the lovely<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> members that I have worked with over the last eight years. I<br />
have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many of you, offering support to<br />
you and putting you in contact with other members. Having the<br />
opportunity to meet so many of you at the <strong>Summer</strong> and Christmas<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> events is always very rewarding and it has been great to see<br />
so many of you getting so much out of being part of <strong>ECHO</strong>.<br />
New contact details for <strong>ECHO</strong>!<br />
To contact Becky:<br />
becky@echo-evelina.org.uk or<br />
call 07730 146154<br />
To contact Emma:<br />
admin@echo-evelina.org.uk or call<br />
07715 208077<br />
NEW <strong>ECHO</strong> STAFF!!<br />
INTRODUCING BECKY<br />
I am delighted and honoured to be the<br />
new <strong>ECHO</strong> Membership Services<br />
Manager. Our family have been<br />
members of <strong>ECHO</strong> for over 8 years since<br />
one of our twin daughters was diagnosed<br />
with TAPVD. Until 2004, we had no idea how people cope<br />
when their child faces life-saving surgery. It was the very most<br />
frightening time and we were given tremendous support at Guys<br />
and at the Ronald McDonald House where we stayed. I didn’t<br />
look back much initially but when I dared to do so, I knew that<br />
the people we met along the way would always remain dear to<br />
me.<br />
For me, being at an <strong>ECHO</strong> event means being with people who<br />
know this often tough experience and so immediately you’re on<br />
a similar wavelength and amongst friends. In my work I will<br />
continue to offer these opportunities to everyone at <strong>ECHO</strong> and so<br />
feel free to contact me with your ideas and hopes for <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
events.<br />
My work before children was in financial services, for a regional<br />
development agency and as a lobbyist in Brussels. Amongst<br />
other things, I have been a school governor, helper at my church<br />
and twins club newsletter editor since<br />
becoming a mum. Currently I’m also<br />
a Brownie leader and always enjoy<br />
any opportunity to be with my<br />
family out and about in the<br />
beautiful Hertfordshire countryside.<br />
My usual working hours will be 9<br />
‘til 3 Monday to Wednesday and<br />
Fridays and you can reach me on<br />
07730 146 154 or becky@echoevelina.org.uk<br />
Francesca and Josephine<br />
I will miss working with Jo and the <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
team, and for all of you, but you will be<br />
sure to still see me and my family at<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> events, my children will make sure<br />
that we still attend them all!<br />
Love to you all. Jessica x<br />
Becky works 9am-3pm Monday to Wednesday and Friday<br />
Emma works 9am-3pm Monday to Wednesday<br />
The new PO Box address for all<br />
donations/fundraising/membership forms:<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong>, PO Box 597,<br />
Chatham ME4 9DS<br />
Becky<br />
Jessica and family<br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 03<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> NEWS<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> NEWS<br />
RAYS OF SUNSHINE<br />
GRACE MALPASS<br />
Royal Albert Hall<br />
Rays of<br />
Sunshine<br />
contacted<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> in May<br />
to offer some<br />
of our <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
family<br />
members’ a<br />
limited number<br />
of tickets for<br />
their Royal<br />
Albert Hall<br />
concert this<br />
year. What a<br />
lovely<br />
opportunity!<br />
I don’t<br />
know<br />
which one<br />
of us was most excited<br />
about the Rays of Sunshine tickets<br />
when they arrived just before half term. My 8<br />
year old daughter Francesca and I were<br />
thrilled to receive our tickets and the<br />
excitement only grew stronger in the run up<br />
to the big day. On arrival, Francesca was<br />
delighted to be given her light-up wand and<br />
flag and then to choose her raffle bears. Even<br />
before all the performances began, Francesca<br />
and I loved the wow of the Royal Albert Hall<br />
experience.<br />
Elliott Collict<br />
It is a little tricky to say ‘what was our<br />
favourite moment?’ at the June 7th Rays of<br />
Sunshine concert.<br />
Was it the moment that Leona Lewis was<br />
showered with glittery pink confetti-like paper<br />
or was it when Spelbound made one of their<br />
amazing dance performances? Or could it<br />
have been when the hosts Miss FM’s Melvin<br />
Odom and Rochelle Wiseman from The<br />
Saturdays invited some children on to the<br />
stage?<br />
Liz Quinnell told us “Thank you so much to<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> for the tickets to the rays of sunshine<br />
concert. Thomas had an amazing time. He<br />
loved all the acts & JLS are his favourite group<br />
& they were even better than he had<br />
imagined. Leigh went with him & also really<br />
enjoyed it although I think he felt rather<br />
old!!!! Thanks again.”<br />
“It was a great evening and one we’re<br />
extremely proud of! “ said Katie Clark, Wish<br />
Manager at Rays of Sunshine, a charity and<br />
friend of <strong>ECHO</strong> which grants wishes for<br />
seriously ill children and teenagers in the UK<br />
aged 3 – 18.<br />
Sophie Bartlett was also lucky to receive<br />
tickets and took her Dad along “Thanks so<br />
much for the concert tickets. I loved it (and I<br />
think Dad liked it too!). My faves were Conor<br />
Maynard, JLS and Pixie Lott. Thanks again, x”<br />
The journey up to town for Claire Collict and<br />
her son Elliott started from Polegate midafternoon.<br />
After their train and several notably<br />
exciting trips in the train station lifts, they had<br />
arrived at the Royal Albert Hall, got their<br />
wand, raffle ticket bear and were making<br />
friends with Jason and his Mum. Claire<br />
explained to <strong>ECHO</strong> “Jason has been suffering<br />
from cancer and has a brain tumour plus<br />
other complications. Jason was absolutely<br />
adorable and Elliott and him really hit it off<br />
and had the same type of daft humour!” For<br />
Claire, the artists were brilliant, “Elliott loved<br />
Pixie Lott, he now loves Stooshe and is always<br />
singing their song, Black heart, and of course<br />
JLS” Although by the end of their performance<br />
both Jason and Elliott were very tired and had<br />
to sit on their Mum’s laps. Elliott and his Mum<br />
want to say a huge thank you to all the<br />
organisers, the artists and especially Rays of<br />
Sunshine for giving the children such a lovely<br />
time, it was truly appreciated.<br />
Francesca and I sat and danced alongside<br />
Karen Stuart and her son James. We<br />
agree with Karen that it was “a fantastic<br />
evening, albeit a really late one!” The music,<br />
the performances were all stunning and I<br />
think Francesca’s favourite has to be<br />
Spelbound. I thought Pixie Lott was terrific and<br />
Leona Lewis gave the most wonderful<br />
performance too. Thank you Rays of<br />
Sunshine for a most lovely memorable<br />
musical experience.<br />
Becky Kelway<br />
Thomas Quinnell<br />
James Stuart<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> member Grace Malpass was born<br />
with Tricuspid Atresia. Grace featured in a<br />
previous <strong>ECHO</strong> newsletter when, in 2009<br />
she got married and her and her husband<br />
asked guests to donate to <strong>ECHO</strong> in lieu of<br />
wedding gifts and donated £800. In<br />
March she wrote me this lovely letter:<br />
I wanted to write as I feel strongly that some<br />
parents of children with heart conditions and<br />
adult congenital patients may need some hope<br />
and inspiration.<br />
Grace, Jon and Charlie at<br />
Charlie's baptism<br />
I was always told that I<br />
would never be able<br />
to have children due<br />
to my heart<br />
condition. I was told<br />
that I would find it<br />
almost impossible<br />
to fall pregnant<br />
and should I ever<br />
fall pregnant that<br />
the baby would<br />
not survive due<br />
to the very low<br />
oxygen levels<br />
Each year, between 5,000<br />
and 6,000 babies are born<br />
with a heart condition in this<br />
country. Whilst some of those<br />
(up to 35%) would have been<br />
diagnosed during pregnancy,<br />
the majority won’t be until after birth. For some<br />
of these babies, the fact that there is something<br />
seriously wrong with them will be obvious quite<br />
quickly and, hopefully, staff in the maternity unit<br />
will recognise the symptoms and the baby will<br />
be speedily referred to an expert Cardiology unit<br />
for assessment and treatment. For others, they<br />
will remain reasonably well just after birth and<br />
present with no obvious symptoms or signs<br />
before being discharged from the maternity unit<br />
with their unsuspecting parents.<br />
The baby might not show any really obvious<br />
signs at first, but may be slightly sleepy and slow<br />
to feed with very slow weight gain (or even some<br />
weight loss). Their hands and feet might feel<br />
slightly cold to the touch and they may look a<br />
grey, dusky colour. These signs may be<br />
particularly difficult to pick up for first-time<br />
parents, who don’t have other “healthy” children<br />
to compare their baby with, and sadly, all too<br />
often, GP’s, community midwives, health visitors<br />
and even doctors in Emergency departments<br />
also fail to pick up on the fact that a baby has a<br />
heart condition which, if left undiagnosed and<br />
treated, could ultimately (and quite quickly)<br />
become fatal. We frequently hear from parents<br />
whose new baby hasn’t been quite right, but<br />
they’ve been fobbed off with a diagnosis of a<br />
that my body runs on. Because of this, I would<br />
not be able to support fetal growth.<br />
So my husband and I were shocked when in<br />
January 2010, I discovered I was pregnant. Sadly,<br />
this pregnancy did not last and we carried on<br />
with our lives thinking it was just a freak thing to<br />
happen. We started the adoption process and<br />
were looking forward to having a family in some<br />
way. Imagine our surprise when I discovered I<br />
was pregnant again! Once again, we found out<br />
too late to offer maximum support to the baby<br />
(ie changing my medications, and taking things<br />
easy) and we lost this pregancy early on too.<br />
However, I am now delighted to tell you that last<br />
year I fell pregnant again and we now have a<br />
beautiful, happy healthy 4 month old son called<br />
Charlie.<br />
I am writing to you as even though it was a<br />
rocky road to have our boy, I wanted to inspire<br />
others not to give up. There is still little<br />
understood about the long-term lives of people<br />
with congenital heart conditions. Indeed I believe<br />
I am amongst one of the 1st generations to<br />
survive my particular condition into adulthood.<br />
When I fell pregnant with Charlie, I gave up<br />
work, adjusted my medications to "safe" ones<br />
“THINK HEART” CAMPAIGN<br />
cold, chest infection or even just being tired,<br />
and it’s not at all unusual for parents to be<br />
accused of being overly anxious about<br />
something which is “nothing” only to find their<br />
baby being retrieved and blue-lighted into the<br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> days or even hours later, critically ill and<br />
fighting for life.<br />
During Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Week in May this year,<br />
Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Federation (CHF) launched their<br />
“Think HEART” campaign to raise awareness of<br />
the signs and symptoms of congenital heart<br />
disease, particularly in newborn babies . The<br />
campaign aims to make GP’s, clinicians, health<br />
visitors, midwives and nurses in the local<br />
community more aware of what to look out for in<br />
a newborn infant and also to empower parents<br />
with the knowledge to enable them to be able to<br />
press for the investigations and treatment that<br />
their child may need urgently.<br />
Think HEART:<br />
• <strong>Heart</strong> rate - too fast or<br />
slow? (normally 100 to<br />
160 beats per minute)<br />
• Energy & Eating -<br />
sleepy, quiet, too<br />
tired to eat, falling<br />
asleep during feeds?<br />
and went on<br />
oxygen 24<br />
hours a day.<br />
All of these<br />
things had<br />
no hard evidence<br />
that it would help my baby to<br />
survive, in fact, my cardiac obstetrician said that<br />
having oxygen wont make any difference at all. I<br />
don't know if it helped or not (it only increased<br />
my O2 levels by a few %), but I was willing to try<br />
anything and now I have my baby.<br />
Grace as a toddler<br />
The medics that look after us heart patients are<br />
absolutely wonderful and extremely skilled and<br />
knowlegable, but some things are about more<br />
than medicine. We all know as heart patients<br />
that hope and faith, and the love and support of<br />
our family are key to surviving congenital heart<br />
problems. They are also key to living a happy<br />
and fulfilled life. Never give up hope, and don't<br />
always take no for an answer! I just have to look<br />
into my baby's eyes to know that miracles can<br />
happen, even in the most unlikely places.<br />
Kind Regards, Grace Bevan (was Malpass)<br />
Congratulations Grace and thank you for sharing<br />
this wonderful news with us!<br />
• Arterial Saturation - a<br />
blue, dusky or grey<br />
colour (normal oxygen<br />
saturations 95-100%)?<br />
• Respiration - breathing<br />
too fast or slow?<br />
(normally 40-60 breaths<br />
per minute)<br />
• Temperature - cold to<br />
touch - particularly<br />
hands and feet<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> fully supports this campaign and is doing<br />
all we can to promote the message, so if you<br />
would like to do your bit and get involved,<br />
leaflets and posters are available directly from<br />
CHF, which you can distribute to your local GP<br />
surgery, Children’s Centre, Schools, local hospital<br />
and anywhere else you can think of where the<br />
health professionals there might come into<br />
contact with a baby with a potential cardiac<br />
condition.<br />
Please contact Danny Beales at CHF on<br />
dannyb@chfed.org.uk for more information and<br />
to order an awareness pack. For more<br />
information about the campaign in general and<br />
the work CHF do, please visit their website:<br />
www.chfed.org.uk. Jo Wilson<br />
04 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 05<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> VALENTINA’S STORY<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> VALENTINA’S STORY<br />
Valentina’s story<br />
I fell pregnant with Valentina quickly, we had only been trying for<br />
about 6 weeks and Matt and I stared with shock and surprise at the 3<br />
positive pregnancy tests one Saturday morning in early October 2011.<br />
I had no indication that I was pregnant, apart from slightly sore<br />
breasts, physically I felt the same, I suffered no morning sickness at<br />
all throughout the pregnancy, but for some reason I just knew that<br />
something was different.<br />
We were both thrilled to have a baby on the<br />
way, and the first 20 weeks of my pregnancy<br />
passed in a blissful haze, I was feeling great,<br />
really enjoying being pregnant, it was the<br />
perfect pregnancy.<br />
On 19 January we went along to Eastbourne<br />
DGH for my 20 week scan, our only worry was<br />
making sure we did not find out what the sex<br />
of the baby was, we wanted it to be a surprise.<br />
The fact that this was a scan to check for<br />
anomalies hadn’t really registered, we just<br />
assumed everything would be ok.<br />
Our sonographer Bob started the scan and<br />
pretty quickly we sensed that something was<br />
not right. Bob was scanning the baby’s head<br />
and told us that he thought there was<br />
excessive fluid on the brain, our hearts sank.<br />
My stomach just became a knot and I was<br />
trying really hard to keep control and not just<br />
burst into tears. Then Bob scanned the heart<br />
and spent a long time over this particular area.<br />
My world just crumbled when he said that he<br />
was pretty certain there was an anomaly with<br />
the heart, and he went off to try and find a<br />
specialist who could confirm his findings.<br />
Unfortunately the doctor we needed to see was<br />
off that day, and we were advised that Miss<br />
Sinah could see us on the Friday at the<br />
Conquest in Hastings.<br />
We were taken to a side room where a lovely<br />
lady called Sabine spoke to us about what was<br />
happening, she did her best to try and reassure<br />
and comfort us, however I was<br />
hysterical at this point. I could not believe how<br />
things had changed in the space of 30<br />
minutes, and was struggling to comprehend<br />
what we had been told. Matt was being strong,<br />
telling me we must wait until we had seen the<br />
specialist at the Conquest, that we needed to<br />
fully understand what the problems were.<br />
We went back to Matt’s parents straight from<br />
the hospital and I was inconsolable, just crying<br />
and hugging my tummy. The evening passed in<br />
a daze as we told my parents and Matt’s sister<br />
the news. The next day we tried in vain to get<br />
a private appointment with a specialist, and<br />
were told that the earliest we could see<br />
someone was Friday. We therefore had to just<br />
wait. It was the longest 24 hours I had ever<br />
waited.<br />
We saw Miss Sinah at the Conquest on the<br />
Friday and she confirmed that there was<br />
definitely a problem with the baby’s heart, and<br />
we needed to be referred to the <strong>Evelina</strong><br />
Children’s Hospital ASAP. She said that there<br />
was a small amount of excess fluid on the<br />
brain - but she maintained throughout the<br />
pregnancy that this was not an issue. She told<br />
us the heart was the main area of concern,<br />
and an appointment was made for the<br />
Monday up at the <strong>Evelina</strong>.<br />
Matt and I set off for London from Eastbourne<br />
on Monday, with his parents who had come<br />
along to support us. My Mum also travelled to<br />
London and we arrived en mass for the first of<br />
many echocardiograms. The scan seemed to<br />
take forever, and the wait that we had to<br />
endure while the doctors studied the images<br />
seemed to take forever.<br />
Finally we all were taken into a small room<br />
where we all squeezed together on the sofa<br />
and 2 chairs, and Dr Sharland confirmed that<br />
our baby had a large Ventricular Septum Defect<br />
(VSD) and a Coarctation of the Aorta. She said<br />
that we were very lucky that the sonographer in<br />
Eastbourne had picked up on the anomalies,<br />
and more importantly, she said that they were<br />
treatable. At this point I felt a small amount of<br />
relief, but when Dr Sharland went on to explain<br />
that our baby would need open heart surgery<br />
within 48hrs of birth, followed by weeks in<br />
hospital, my world just fell apart. To make<br />
matters worse, we were also advised that it<br />
would be wise for me to have an<br />
amniocentesis to check that the heart problems<br />
were not linked to any other syndromes such<br />
as Downs, and an appointment was made for<br />
me that afternoon.<br />
As Matt walked me down the corridor to have<br />
the amnio test, I said to him that I wanted to<br />
find out what sex the baby was - I don’t know<br />
why but I just needed to know if it was a boy or<br />
a girl, I just couldn’t go on thinking of it as “it”<br />
when we knew it had these problems. Matt<br />
said whatever I wanted to do was ok with him,<br />
and we were told that we were having a girl.<br />
When we walked back into the room and told<br />
our parents that the baby was a little girl,<br />
everyone cried. At that point I just had this<br />
overwhelming urge to protect my little girl, and I<br />
just knew she would be a fighter, she would<br />
have to be.<br />
We left via the main entrance to St Thomas’s, all<br />
of us huddled together, upset and trying to<br />
digest the news. We were just outside the front<br />
of the hospital when Matt’s Mum collapsed<br />
clutching her head, crying out in pain. It was<br />
almost farcical how difficult it was to find a<br />
doctor at that point, a passer by suggested we<br />
called 999! Matt went into work mode, being a<br />
Policeman meant that he had undertaken first<br />
aid training, and he got his Mum into the<br />
recovery position while his Dad found someone<br />
who could help. Matt’s poor Mum ended up<br />
staying in St Thomas’s for nearly a week as the<br />
stress of the days events had triggered a<br />
cardiac surge – a massive rush of blood to the<br />
head which had made her collapse.<br />
Poor Matt was torn between worrying about<br />
me and the baby, and worrying about his Mum<br />
who he had to leave in London. Having<br />
travelled up together as a family, we had to go<br />
home alone leaving his Mum in St Thomas’s –<br />
miles away from home. Thankfully she made a<br />
full recovery.<br />
We were told it could take up to 3 weeks for the<br />
amnio test results to come back, and I have to<br />
say these were some of the darkest days of my<br />
life. I was signed off work and spent my days<br />
trying not to think about the test results, but in<br />
reality it was all I could think about. Matt<br />
banned me from using the internet as I was<br />
upsetting myself looking at various syndromes<br />
and diseases that we didn’t even know our little<br />
girl had, I was just trying to prepare myself for<br />
the worst. I kept thinking over and over in my<br />
head, why us?…was it my age (37), was it my<br />
lifestyle, working long hours, commuting to the<br />
city….was I to blame? The doctors had told us<br />
that it was just a case of Mother Nature getting<br />
it wrong, but I still felt responsible.<br />
Every time the baby kicked, every day that<br />
passed, I was more and more aware that this<br />
was my daughter inside me, a little person. At<br />
24 weeks pregnant, the thought of having to<br />
terminate the pregnancy was too horrific to<br />
contemplate. I began to try and switch off my<br />
feelings, not wanting to talk to my baby, afraid<br />
of connecting with her any more than I already<br />
had, as it would only make things harder if the<br />
amnio tests came back showing there was<br />
something wrong. Matt’s birthday came and<br />
went, we just were consumed with worry and<br />
every day I watched my phone like a hawk,<br />
praying for it to ring with news, but also<br />
dreading the call at the same time.<br />
We got the call we were waiting for on the way<br />
back from Brighton, we were in the waiting<br />
room at Lewes Station when Sabine called to<br />
say that the amnio came back negative, our<br />
baby was fine apart from the heart problems. It<br />
was rush hour and in the middle of the waiting<br />
room Matt and I sank to our knees and cried<br />
our eyes out on the sofa. It was the best news<br />
ever. We knew that we still had a tough journey<br />
ahead but this was such a positive moment<br />
and from that day onwards, we were<br />
determined to try and enjoy the pregnancy as<br />
much as possible.<br />
We began talking about names for the baby,<br />
and I had read in a magazine about an actress<br />
who had called her little girl Valentina. I thought<br />
it was beautiful. When I googled it, I discovered<br />
that it was Italian, and it meant strong and<br />
healthy. That seemed like a good omen. Then I<br />
had a scan on Valentines Day, and it was the<br />
first scan for weeks that we walked out of<br />
having been told no more bad news, our little<br />
girl was in fact doing well, growing nicely, and<br />
Miss Sinah was happy with her progress. This<br />
made the name all the more appropriate.<br />
I was scanned regularly both at the Conquest<br />
in Hastings and the <strong>Evelina</strong>, and each trip to<br />
London became a family outing, with Matt’s<br />
parents and my Mum or my Dad coming up to<br />
support us. Both hospitals got used to 5 of us<br />
turning up for the scans, they were very<br />
accommodating. We just had to be quiet!<br />
At around 32 weeks I was told that I should<br />
have an MRI of the baby so that they could see<br />
what was happening with the fluid on the<br />
brain. This had always been an area of slight<br />
confusion as Miss Sinah always maintained<br />
that this was not an issue, yes there was fluid<br />
there, but it had not changed during the<br />
pregnancy and it was only just over the<br />
“normal” level. The MRI was undertaken at St<br />
Thomas’s, and was a very uncomfortable<br />
procedure, lying on your back for a long period<br />
of time when heavily pregnant is not easy.<br />
There was another 2 week wait for results, and<br />
I was on the train home from work when I got<br />
a call telling me that there was a large amount<br />
of fluid on our little girl’s brain, but at this stage<br />
they couldn’t really say what this would mean.<br />
We would need to wait and see how she<br />
developed. I was devastated; I felt like the<br />
scan had been worthless as we were no<br />
further forward, if it was a case of wait and<br />
see, why go through all this pain and worry<br />
now, so far into my pregnancy. It just seemed<br />
unnecessary. Matt continued to be wonderfully<br />
positive, saying that until we actually knew<br />
what we were dealing with, he was not going<br />
to let the thought of “what ifs” get us down.<br />
There were days when his positivity used to<br />
irritate me, I could not understand how he<br />
could be so positive. It is only now that I realise<br />
he had to be positive, it was the only way to<br />
keep us both going, anything else and I would<br />
have sunk into the depths of despair. He really<br />
was my rock during those dark days.<br />
We were told that the baby would need to be<br />
delivered at St Thomas’s at 38 weeks, and we<br />
attended an antenatal day at St Thomas’s<br />
which was run by <strong>ECHO</strong>, which went over what<br />
we could expect on the day of our baby’s birth.<br />
It was here that we met other families all<br />
expecting babies who had cardiac problems. It<br />
was a humbling day, and as we left that room<br />
we realised that our baby’s’ problems were<br />
actually rather straight forward compared to<br />
what some of the other parents were facing.<br />
We had never heard of conditions such as<br />
Tetralogy of Fallot, or Hypo plastic Left <strong>Heart</strong>.<br />
We went home that night feeling very drained.<br />
We were now part of a world we had never<br />
really knew existed. Why would we know about<br />
these things? Looking around that room, at the<br />
mix of people, all of different ages, different<br />
races, I realised that no one is spared from<br />
Mother Nature.<br />
There were so many sad stories in that room,<br />
but also there was so much hope, and so<br />
many brave parents who were all facing very<br />
tough times ahead. It felt strangely comforting<br />
to know that we were not alone.<br />
My waters broke the morning I was due to call<br />
the hospital to find out if they had a bed for<br />
Valentina in neo-natal; luckily they were ready<br />
for us. We arrived at St Thomas’s about 4pm<br />
and Valentina arrived at 8.51am on Monday 23<br />
May weighing 3.53kg, after 2 epidurals and a<br />
spinal block for me, and 2 failed ventouse<br />
attempts for Valentina. Unfortunately Valentina<br />
had turned around and was back to back - she<br />
managed to get herself well and truly stuck.<br />
The ventouse cap ripped off a chunk of poor<br />
Valentina’s skin on her forehead and her scalp,<br />
and when they tried it again, more of the same<br />
happened. In the end she had to be delivered<br />
by a specialist using Kielland Forceps, and after<br />
all the trauma in theatre she was rushed away<br />
to Neo Natal where she was placed on a<br />
Prostin drip. This kept the ductus arteriosus<br />
blood vessel in her heart open, until such time<br />
that she had her surgery.<br />
Originally the surgery was planned to take<br />
place within 48 hours of Valentina’s birth, but<br />
due to the damage to her head from the<br />
delivery, the surgeons were not prepared to<br />
operate on her until her head had healed<br />
sufficiently. This was a massive blow to us, and<br />
it was awful to see the state poor Valentina<br />
was in. She was in tremendous discomfort from<br />
the delivery and was on round the clock pain<br />
relief. It was several days before I could even<br />
pick her up, and all I wanted to do was to hold<br />
my baby. This was so difficult for me, I was<br />
unable to try breastfeeding or enjoy skin-to-skin<br />
contact. Hugs with her were precious and very<br />
few and far between in those first few days.<br />
Valentina finally had her operation on June 1st,<br />
when she was 9 days old. We arrived on the<br />
ward at 6am so that we could bathe her and<br />
get some much-needed cuddles before taking<br />
her down to theatre. She had a slight<br />
temperature that morning but thankfully it was<br />
not high enough to stop the surgery. We got<br />
the call at 8.30, and I carried her down<br />
wrapped in her pink blanket. Matt and I placed<br />
her on the operating table and were there to<br />
give her a kiss before watching her go to sleep.<br />
Walking away and leaving her was the hardest<br />
thing we have ever had to do. We had made a<br />
pact not to cry in the theatre room and I was<br />
struggling to keep my part of the deal. We both<br />
made it out of the room and by the time we<br />
reached the lift we were both in pieces.<br />
The next 5 hours dragged and dragged. We<br />
walked along the Thames and on the way back<br />
we got the call from Mr Salir, Valentina’s<br />
surgeon. The operation had gone well, they<br />
had repaired the Coarctation and patched up<br />
the hole in her heart. We could go to PICU in an<br />
hour once she was out of recovery.<br />
Seeing Valentina in PICU was scary. We had<br />
been shown pictures beforehand so we had an<br />
idea what to expect, but it was still a sight I will<br />
never forget. She was surrounded by 6 or 7<br />
doctors and there were lines and drains<br />
coming out all over her. As we would come to<br />
learn, this is normal for PICU when a baby<br />
comes out of surgery, but at the time it was<br />
very scary.<br />
06 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 07<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> VALENTINA’S STORY<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> VALENTINA’S STORY<br />
Valentina had 3 days in PICU, her chest drain<br />
came out on day 2 but she did not come off the<br />
ventilator until day 3 as she had been a little<br />
slow at breathing for herself and the alarm on<br />
the ventilator kept going off, not very reassuring<br />
for anxious Mum and Dad at her<br />
bedside! By the end of day 3 she looked like a<br />
different baby, the only tubes remaining were<br />
her nasal gastric (NG) tube, and a line in her<br />
arm and groin. Picking her up was much<br />
easier now, I remember the first cuddle I had<br />
when she was still on the ventilator and I was<br />
just petrified I would pull one of the drains or<br />
that one of the lines would catch on something,<br />
it felt so awkward. Her surgeon checked on<br />
her and was pleased with her recovery, fingers<br />
crossed she would be back on the ward the<br />
next day.<br />
Thankfully Valentina came out of PICU and<br />
back up to Savannah on Saturday 4th June,<br />
she looked so much better now the bloating<br />
from the ventilator had subsided. That night<br />
she gave us a scare, going blue and dropping<br />
her sats to 80. She was given oxygen and<br />
morphine as the nurses suspected she was in<br />
pain following the operation, and they<br />
managed to find her a baby airbed to make<br />
her extra comfortable. It definitely helped, and<br />
to this day we say she is like the Princess and<br />
the Pea, she definitely likes a comfortable<br />
bed!!!<br />
In total Valentina spent 10 days on Savannah<br />
Ward following her release from PICU. The<br />
main issues for us were feeding and weight<br />
gain. She was too small and weak to<br />
breastfeed, although thankfully I was<br />
successfully expressing milk which was mainly<br />
being fed via the NG tube. She just tired so<br />
easily when we tried to bottle-feed her, and we<br />
could not take her home until a better feeding<br />
routine had been established. Over the 10 days<br />
in Savannah the grandparents were finally able<br />
to cuddle their granddaughter, she had been in<br />
such a state following her birth that Mum and<br />
Dad hardly had any cuddles, never mind the<br />
rest of the family. Needless to say there were<br />
lots of happy Grandparents once they had all<br />
had a cuddle.<br />
During this time Valentina was also seen and<br />
tested by the genetics department, as there<br />
were concerns that her heart problems could<br />
be genetic; thankfully her tests came back<br />
showing she was a normal female. We also<br />
saw a neurologist who suggested an MRI scan<br />
could be beneficial in order to establish exactly<br />
what was happening with the fluid on her<br />
brain. The MRI attempt had to be aborted, as<br />
Valentina would not lie still enough for the scan<br />
to be effective. This is something that will need<br />
to be done when she is older, at around 2<br />
years old, so that the neurologists can get a<br />
good understanding of what is going on in her<br />
brain. In the meantime we have to wait and<br />
see how her development progresses. The<br />
early signs were good, but we were told it was<br />
too soon to know what impact the surgery and<br />
the fluid on the brain would have on our<br />
darling girl.<br />
We were discharged from <strong>Evelina</strong> on my<br />
birthday, 13 June, to the Eastbourne District<br />
General Hospital (DGH). I was scared to leave<br />
the cocoon of the <strong>Evelina</strong> with Valentina,<br />
uncertain of what the DGH would be like<br />
compared to the top class care Valentina had<br />
received at the <strong>Evelina</strong>. We had been lucky<br />
enough to stay at the wonderful, amazing<br />
Ronald MacDonald house for the entire length<br />
of our stay at <strong>Evelina</strong>; I can honestly say I do<br />
not know what we would have done or how<br />
we would have coped without our room there.<br />
The nurses who met us at Eastbourne could not<br />
have been more welcoming, they very kindly<br />
gave Valentina her own room which we very<br />
quickly made our own. I slept every night at the<br />
hospital, doing the feeds round the clock, with<br />
the nurses very kindly doing the 3am feed each<br />
night so that I could get some sleep. Matt also<br />
did a fair share of night shifts during the 3<br />
weeks that Valentina was in Eastbourne, he<br />
was so hands on and really wanted to bond<br />
with Valentina, which was amazing.<br />
We had to be shown how to feed Valentina<br />
using the NG tube as her weight gain was<br />
painfully slow, and the bottle feeds were still<br />
slow progress. After 3 weeks in Eastbourne we<br />
were finally able to take Valentina home, she<br />
still had the NG tube in but under the watchful<br />
eye of the dietician and the Speech and<br />
Language Therapist, we were allowed to take<br />
her home as long as she kept improving with<br />
her feeding. Finally walking into our house, over<br />
5 weeks after her birth, was a massive<br />
milestone for us. Over the next few months,<br />
Valentina continued to put on weight and her<br />
initial cardiac review back at <strong>Evelina</strong> was good.<br />
We also saw the Neurologist in September and<br />
he advised us that she was displaying all the<br />
right signs for a baby of her age.<br />
We had grown used to our baby’s foibles, the<br />
way she used to sleep mid feed was the norm<br />
for us, so was the length of time it used to take<br />
to feed her – up to an hour for 3oz of milk. She<br />
had always been like this so we never thought<br />
much of it. Little did we know that around<br />
where the patch had been placed over the hole<br />
in her heart, her little heart had started to grow<br />
excess muscle and scar tissue, which was now<br />
blocking her aortic valve. We attended a routine<br />
check up in October, making the family trek up<br />
to <strong>Evelina</strong>, all of us breezing in thinking<br />
everything was going to be ok again, only to be<br />
left devastated by the news that she would<br />
need another big operation, sooner rather than<br />
later, to remove the excess tissue.<br />
That night, I went in to check on Valentina and<br />
looking at her sleeping, so peacefully and<br />
unaware of what was coming, just broke my<br />
heart. I sank to my knees by her cot and<br />
sobbed my heart out. I just could not face the<br />
prospect of her undergoing another operation,<br />
and I could hardly bear to think about all the<br />
stress and heartache that went along with it. I<br />
practically kept Valentina under house arrest for<br />
the few weeks leading up to her operation, not<br />
wanting to risk her picking up any bugs that<br />
might delay proceedings.<br />
We arrived back at the <strong>Evelina</strong> on 14 November,<br />
Valentina’s required an Echo before her<br />
surgery, the plan was to do get this done<br />
without sedation, however true to form our little<br />
monkey would not lie still, and her cardiologist<br />
Aaron Bell advised us that we would have to<br />
return the next day for the Echo to be done<br />
under sedation. We stayed the night in Gassiot<br />
house, very kindly provided for us by <strong>ECHO</strong>,<br />
and Valentina’s Echo was carried out without<br />
any problems the next morning, confirming the<br />
original diagnosis in October. We met with Mr<br />
Salir, Valentina’s surgeon, and signed the<br />
necessary consent forms, and were advised<br />
Valentina was first on the operating schedule<br />
for Wednesday; hopefully she would go down<br />
to theatre at around 8am, which we were<br />
pleased about as we just wanted it to be over<br />
and done with so we could focus on her<br />
recovery.<br />
I stayed with Valentina on the ward that night,<br />
hardly getting a wink of sleep in between the<br />
night feeds which she still needed. We met her<br />
anaesthetist at 7.30am and ran through what<br />
was going to happen, bathed her in the<br />
antiseptic wash and dressed her in her theatre<br />
gown. The walk down to theatre is just the<br />
longest walk, and I hate every step. Matt and I<br />
showered her with kisses all the way to theatre,<br />
and I held her while she was given gas and air<br />
to make her sleepy. Typically her cannula had<br />
not worked and she fought off the gas and air,<br />
holding her breath and trying to wriggle out of<br />
the mask, being the stubborn little fighter she<br />
is. I was proud of her efforts! Walking away<br />
from her again, leaving her in that room, took<br />
super human effort. I could barely hold it<br />
together. Matt propped me up as always,<br />
telling me she was going to be fine, this was<br />
what she needed to be healthy, and we had to<br />
be strong for her. Of course he was right.<br />
We got the call from Mr Salir at 12.15 to say the<br />
surgery had gone well and we could come to<br />
PICU in an hour to see her. On arrival in PICU,<br />
we saw a group of doctor’s frantically working<br />
on Valentina, and I felt a moment of pure<br />
panic. We later learned that they were trying to<br />
regulate Valentina’s heart rate as it was<br />
beating too fast, and her blood pressure was<br />
very low. Valentina was dressed in a white<br />
“cool suit” to reduce her temperate and slow<br />
down her heart rate, she had to have a blood<br />
transfusion as she had lost a lot of blood out of<br />
her chest drain. This all seemed really bad to<br />
us, but thankfully Aaron Bell was close by and<br />
re-assured us that this was all normal and we<br />
should not worry, she was going to be ok.<br />
We arrived back in PICU the next day, 17th<br />
November, and learned that her blood test<br />
results showed a big improvement compared<br />
to the day before, the ventilator had been<br />
turned down so that Valentina was doing most<br />
of the breathing herself, and she was now on a<br />
dopamine drip to assist with her low blood<br />
pressure. Her chest drain was taken out and<br />
she barely flinched when it was done, it was<br />
incredible. We were so proud of her.<br />
Over the next 24 hours her blood pressure<br />
came back to normal and her heart started to<br />
function more effectively, which was great<br />
progress. She needed another blood<br />
transfusion as her little body was working so<br />
hard to mend itself and it just couldn’t make<br />
enough new red blood cells. Throughout this<br />
time Valentina showed what a tough little<br />
fighter she is, getting so cross with the doctors<br />
when they moved her to try and x-ray her chest<br />
that her blood pressure shot up, and she<br />
needed morphine to calm her down. That’s our<br />
girl!<br />
Valentina came off the ventilator on 18th<br />
November, and having been on rations of milk,<br />
she desperately wanted more milk which she<br />
was not allowed to have. We had not weaned<br />
her at this point, so she had a very rapid<br />
introduction to solids that day. She either ate<br />
the apple puree or went hungry….no surprises<br />
which option she went for. It wasn’t quite the<br />
introduction to food that I had planned, but<br />
there you go! She had a bit if a temperature<br />
which had been yo-yoing up and down over<br />
the last 24 hours, and her blood infection<br />
markers were up which was not a good sign.<br />
Since she had been weaned off of the<br />
morphine she had been much more awake<br />
and fidgety, hence the decision to take her off<br />
of the ventilator. By the 19th November, all her<br />
long lines had been removed, but due to her<br />
temperature she was now on antibiotics.<br />
Poor Valentina now had some fluid on her<br />
chest, and at this point we started to get quite<br />
concerned. She had definitely taken a turn for<br />
the worse, she had a developed a nasty chest<br />
infection and was really quite poorly. She just<br />
lay there, not moving, her eyes were sunken<br />
and hollow. She looked worse now than when<br />
she did after her operation. We were reassured<br />
that she would start to make some<br />
improvement once the anti-biotics kicked in. We<br />
were worried sick, she looked dreadful. She<br />
was so listless and unresponsive, it was a<br />
really scary 24 hours for us. Thankfully the<br />
antibiotics kicked in and on the Sunday<br />
evening, 20th November, we left PICU and took<br />
Valentina up to Savannah. That first night back<br />
on the ward was one I will always remember.<br />
My little girl, who is happy to be cuddled by<br />
anyone and everyone, who has a strong<br />
independent streak and likes her own time,<br />
was suddenly really really clingy. She had this<br />
panicked look on her face whenever she woke<br />
up and she wanted me there next to her all the<br />
time. I had never known her to be like this<br />
before, she just looked really scared. I have<br />
never felt the bond between us more strongly<br />
than I did that night, bless her heart, she just<br />
wanted her Mummy.<br />
The next day we got our first smile from her<br />
since Wednesday, 5 days prior. It was a very<br />
welcome sight. Valentina was now on betablockers<br />
to help her heart function properly,<br />
and we were told she could be on these<br />
indefinitely, it all depended how her heart<br />
responded following the surgery. Due to the<br />
obstruction in her heart, the bottom of her heart<br />
had been working extra hard to pump the<br />
blood through to the top chamber, and it had<br />
become really big and muscly. The betablockers<br />
were slowing down her heart, making<br />
it fill up more effectively, and this would in time<br />
shrink the heart back down to the appropriate<br />
size. Now all we had to do was wait and see<br />
how quickly it would get back to normal.<br />
During our stay at <strong>Evelina</strong> the doctors had also<br />
picked up on what appeared to be a squint in<br />
her right eye. In addition to this she had<br />
developed stridor breathing, which meant she<br />
really sucked in her throat when she took a<br />
breath at times, and snored terribly most of the<br />
time. In addition to all this, the wounds on her<br />
head that were inflicted during her delivery had<br />
still not healed, and we were finally referred to<br />
a dermatologist, and an ENT specialist for her<br />
breathing, and also to the eye clinic.<br />
Thankfully we have since been discharged from<br />
all 3 clinics, after several trips up to London it<br />
has been confirmed that she does not have a<br />
squint, her vision is 20/20. ENT are not<br />
concerned about the noisy breathing. She has<br />
a floppy windpipe, which is quite possibly a<br />
result of being intubated, and this is a condition<br />
that she should just grow out of. The wounds<br />
on her head are also now much better, she<br />
was prescribed a powerful steroid cream from<br />
the dermatologist, who actually asked for<br />
pictures of Valentina at birth to use in teaching<br />
cases, as her injuries were so bad.<br />
We took Valentina home on Thursday 24<br />
November. Once the antibiotics kicked in, the<br />
change in Valentina was remarkable; we<br />
definitely had our little girl back.<br />
The relief we felt was palpable when we got<br />
her home and tucked up into her cot that night.<br />
It was another difficult phase of her life over<br />
with. Now we need to wait and see how the<br />
beta-blockers work. Her check ups in<br />
December and April were very promising, the<br />
heart muscle is getting smaller which is great<br />
news. We felt sick with worry at these<br />
appointments, terrified that we would get the<br />
news that the blockage had come back, and I<br />
think we will probably feel that way at every<br />
check up; maybe it will get easier as time goes<br />
by and her heart continues to remain healthy.<br />
The changes in Valentina since her last<br />
operation are so noticeable. She is a better<br />
colour, peachy in fact! She feeds so much<br />
faster, taking a bottle in minutes rather than an<br />
hour. She is so much more responsive and<br />
interactive. We had become so used to how<br />
she used to be and accepted this as the norm,<br />
it is only when we look back now that we<br />
realise how poorly she was.<br />
Valentina remains under the care of the<br />
neurologist, and as far as her development is<br />
concerned, we have to watch and see. She<br />
celebrated her first birthday on 23 May, and<br />
she is still not sitting up unaided yet. We do not<br />
know at this point if this is related to the fluid on<br />
the brain, or if she is simply just behind with<br />
her development due to the operations and the<br />
time she spent recovering. The neurologist<br />
wants her to have an MRI scan when she is 2<br />
so that they can determine whether there has<br />
been any neurological impact as a result of her<br />
surgeries in addition to the matter of the fluid<br />
on her brain. She is very floppy which is a<br />
possible side affect of the beta-blockers, and<br />
she is also a rather skinny little rabbit, with a<br />
small appetite, so building her strength up and<br />
fattening her up is no easy task. She is to<br />
receive some physiotherapy soon in the hope<br />
that this will assist her sitting up. She is trying to<br />
crawl which is interesting, and she really wants<br />
to sit up she just can’t seem to get her balance<br />
and stay rigid enough to do so. In the<br />
meantime we are enjoying having her as a<br />
baby for that bit longer.<br />
Our darling Valentina is without doubt the<br />
happiest, kindest, most loving and trusting<br />
baby you could ever meet. Everyone who<br />
meets her falls in love with her. We will never<br />
ever be able to express to her how much we<br />
love her and how proud we are of her after all<br />
she has gone through. She has inspired us to<br />
be strong, she has made us laugh, cry, and<br />
worry, and we would do anything for her. She<br />
is the most important thing in our lives and we<br />
cannot wait to watch her grow up into a big<br />
strong healthy girl. Lucy Crane<br />
08 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 09<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> MILESTONES<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> HOSPITAL NEWS<br />
This is your opportunity to share<br />
your happy events and<br />
children's milestones with us<br />
all. Thank you to all of you who<br />
sent in such lovely photos and<br />
wonderful news.<br />
Rachel Riley sent this beautiful photo of<br />
her daughter Alexandra and said: "I<br />
wanted to share with everyone that my<br />
daughter Alexandra Dyer turned one on<br />
13th June.<br />
I just wanted to say "Happy first birthday<br />
to our superstar. This time last year we<br />
never imagined reaching this milestone.<br />
She is so brave and a true blessing. You<br />
make us smile every day."<br />
Love Mummy, Daddy, Nickyle & Kyra<br />
xxx<br />
Neil Loughnane sent this fantastic photo<br />
of his sons Thomas and Connor.<br />
Thomas (Captain Hook) turned 5 on 13th<br />
April and Connor (Peter Pan) celebrated<br />
his third birthday on 15th June.<br />
Thomas and Connor<br />
Nick and Di de Naeyer's children Jack<br />
and Alice went to their prom and Alice<br />
wrote: "For our prom we got a coach<br />
from our school in Totteridge, to Tower<br />
Pier by the Tower of London. We got on<br />
the boat there for our prom and during<br />
our time on the boat it travelled down<br />
the Thames, with Jack pointing out all<br />
the attractions as we went past them. It<br />
was such an amazing prom everyone<br />
enjoyed it so much, I would love to do it<br />
again." You both look fantastic!<br />
Lucy and Paul Salmon's son Ashton<br />
celebrated his third birthday on April<br />
9th. He has also taken his first steps,<br />
and grandad, Keith had his camera<br />
ready! Well done Ashton!<br />
This is a photo of <strong>ECHO</strong> member and<br />
volunteer Julie Jackson's son Daniel at<br />
his 10th birthday on Sunday 27th May.<br />
To celebrate his birthday he had a<br />
football party in the sunshine and then<br />
party food with his friends. Sounds<br />
great fun Daniel!<br />
Kathy Turner sent this lovely<br />
photo of her daughter Amy<br />
in her first theatre<br />
performance, "The<br />
Wizard of Oz". She<br />
was a robin!<br />
Jessica<br />
Cattermole<br />
Alice and Jack<br />
Ashton<br />
Daniel<br />
Amy<br />
Alexandra<br />
SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE – THE DECISION IS MADE<br />
As most of you will have already seen and<br />
heard in the news recently, the Joint Committee<br />
of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) met in public on<br />
the 4th July and made their decision on the<br />
future of children's cardiac surgery we have all<br />
been waiting for. This means that the number<br />
of hospitals which can provide heart surgery for<br />
children will be reduced from the current 11 to<br />
7. The units which will retain their surgical<br />
status are <strong>Evelina</strong> <strong>Children's</strong> Hospital, Great<br />
Ormond Street, Southampton, Bristol,<br />
Birmingham, Liverpool Alder Hey, and Freeman<br />
Hospital in Newcastle.<br />
The changes will have to be implemented by<br />
2014, but at this time it is still unclear how soon<br />
any of us will notice any difference (including to<br />
those hospitals who will eventually be treating<br />
more patients). <strong>ECHO</strong> has been closely involved<br />
in the Safe and Sustainable process for many<br />
years and has fully supported the drive to<br />
reduce the number of units, thereby increasing<br />
the size of the remaining hospitals undertaking<br />
heart surgery, which we firmly believe will result<br />
in an even better standard of care and safety<br />
for all heart-children in the country, so we are<br />
delighted that this pivotal decision has finally<br />
been taken. We hope to be working closely<br />
with the management team at the <strong>Evelina</strong> to<br />
influence the work they undertake to expand<br />
the cardiac unit there and also with the<br />
Specialised Commissioning Group for London<br />
and the South East to establish a seamless<br />
“<strong>Children's</strong> Cardiac Network”, which will<br />
encompass the <strong>Evelina</strong>'s Outreach Clinics and<br />
which will be key in providing care for children<br />
with heart conditions close to their home.<br />
The morning after the decision, we shared with<br />
you by email a statement from Dr Owen Miller,<br />
Head of Service/Clinical Lead for Paediatric<br />
Cardiology at the <strong>Evelina</strong>. One of the key<br />
messages from Dr Miller was “We look forward<br />
to working with our network partners to ensure<br />
a smooth transition to new ways of working”.<br />
We anticipate that it will take some time to fully<br />
understand the practical impact on us all. At<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong>, we recognise that many of you will have<br />
questions and in this section of the <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
newsletter, we will try to answer your questions<br />
as much as we can over the coming months.<br />
Here are a few we have already been asked:<br />
Will appointments at outreach clinics change<br />
as a result of this decision? Outreach clinics<br />
will form a key part of the service offered to<br />
support patients whose care is under the<br />
<strong>Evelina</strong>, and the aim will be to form a<br />
“Children’s Cardiac Network” amongst the<br />
Outreach Clinics. Dr Miller explained in his<br />
statement, “By working closely with local<br />
hospitals to strengthen clinical networks, we<br />
will also ensure [children and young people]<br />
receive the best possible care close to home.”<br />
We have always been patients at the <strong>Evelina</strong>;<br />
does that mean we always will be? We live in<br />
north London? This will not change. So-called<br />
referral patterns may change for new patients<br />
in the future but that has yet to be determined.<br />
How will the <strong>Evelina</strong> cope with the increase<br />
in patient numbers? The <strong>Evelina</strong> already has<br />
robust plans to expand the Cardiac unit with<br />
full backing from the Trust board. We will be<br />
consulted throughout to ensure that we have<br />
plenty of input and influence so we will<br />
continue to push for sufficient, good quality<br />
parent/family accommodation as well as all<br />
the other services and support which are<br />
necessary when one's child in hospital. All the<br />
other units in the country which have been<br />
designated as surgical centres will have had to<br />
make a firm commitment to expansion too.<br />
Also, it must be remembered that the changes<br />
won't occur for at least 2 years, and there's lots<br />
of work to be done in the meantime to ensure<br />
a smooth transition and implementation.<br />
How will this decision affect patient choice?<br />
Patient choice remains a key component of the<br />
NHS and the JCPCT decision should not affect<br />
this important principle. Families and patients<br />
will continue to have a say in deciding which<br />
unit treats their child. The hope is that by<br />
reducing the number of surgical centres and<br />
concentrating skills and expertise, all the<br />
hospitals providing children’s cardiac surgery in<br />
this country will be world-class.<br />
When will the <strong>Evelina</strong> start taking the patients<br />
from the other hospitals? It is possible that<br />
patient flow into the <strong>Evelina</strong> may increase<br />
gradually and slowly at first over the coming<br />
months as some families choose to have their<br />
child treated at the <strong>Evelina</strong> even if other units<br />
continue to offer cardiac surgery during the<br />
implementation period. This will increase as<br />
surgical services begin to wind down in those<br />
units who will ultimately lose their surgical<br />
designation. The changes will have to be<br />
complete by April 2014.<br />
If you have any questions, please send them to<br />
becky@echo-evelina.org.uk and we will do<br />
our utmost to clarify any areas of concern as<br />
part of our regular liaison meetings with the<br />
<strong>Evelina</strong>.<br />
Holly Richardson aged 7, raised a fantastic £1,000 for the <strong>Evelina</strong>. Her mum<br />
Frances Richardson said: "Holly raised the money by doing a sponsored swim at<br />
Horsted Health Spa in Uckfield. She asked three of her friends to help her and together<br />
they swam 6280m. She donated the money to the <strong>Evelina</strong> as she wanted to raise money for<br />
children with poorly hearts like her brother Sam. We took Holly up to the <strong>Evelina</strong> in February so that she<br />
could present Dr Owen Miller with the cheque. All of Holly's family and friends are very proud of her for<br />
raising such a fantastic amount." Well done Holly!<br />
THANK YOU<br />
Dr Owen Miller<br />
FRACP, FCSANZ, FRCPCH<br />
We are delighted to<br />
welcome Dr. Owen Miller as<br />
Patron of our charity. Dr<br />
Miller took over from<br />
Professor Shakeel Qureshi<br />
as Head of Service and<br />
Clinical Lead for<br />
Paediatric Cardiology at<br />
the <strong>Evelina</strong> earlier this<br />
year.<br />
Dr Owen Miller attended the University of<br />
Newcastle, NSW in Australia and trained in<br />
Paediatrics at the Children’s Hospital in<br />
Sydney.<br />
After completing training in General<br />
Paediatrics, he went on to complete specialist<br />
training in Paediatric Intensive Care and then<br />
Paediatric Cardiology. His postgraduate<br />
training was in Sydney, Zurich and London.<br />
His first consultant post in 1993 was to the<br />
Children’s Hospital, Sydney, followed by<br />
further training at Great Ormond Street,<br />
returning to Sydney Children’s Hospital as a<br />
Consultant in Paediatric and Fetal Cardiology<br />
in 2000.<br />
In 2005, Dr Miller was appointed to the<br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> as a Consultant in Paediatric and Fetal<br />
Cardiology moving to the current <strong>Evelina</strong><br />
Children’s Hospital when it opened in 2005.<br />
Dr Miller’s main clinical interests are<br />
advanced cardiac imaging, fetal cardiology<br />
and cardio-pulmonary exercise testing. In<br />
<strong>2012</strong> he was appointed as Head of Service<br />
for Paediatric and Fetal Cardiology.<br />
Dr Miller is married with three children and<br />
when not at work is passionate about sailing<br />
and sailing boats.<br />
We are looking forward to working closely<br />
with Dr Miller during this time of change and<br />
development in the world of Paediatric<br />
Cardiology and to continuing the excellent<br />
regular meetings which have become a vital<br />
component in the liaison and collaboration<br />
between the hospital and <strong>ECHO</strong>.<br />
Owen, Sam and Holly<br />
10 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 11<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> HOSPITAL NEWS<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> HOSPITAL NEWS<br />
When I was pregnant with my eldest daughter<br />
Melissa in 1994, I couldn’t wait to attend the<br />
course of antenatal classes provided by the<br />
hospital where she was going to be born. In fact<br />
I was SO keen that I even went to another set of<br />
classes given by the midwives at my GP practice.<br />
It was such an exciting time – the anticipation of<br />
entering the world of motherhood, making new<br />
friends at the antenatal classes and learning all<br />
the tools I would need to get my husband and I<br />
through the early days and weeks with our new<br />
baby. To this day, I still keep in contact with some<br />
of the friends I made and we look back with<br />
nostalgia at those heady days of planning,<br />
reading “baby manuals”, buying baby clothes<br />
and nursery furniture.<br />
When I became pregnant for the second time,<br />
five years later, I thought I’d be doing it all again<br />
(although with the experience I’d already gained,<br />
I would was looking forward to sharing my<br />
knowledge as an “old hand”!). And then the<br />
bombshell dropped… at my 20 week scan it was<br />
discovered that my baby had a serious and<br />
complex heart condition. The world as we knew<br />
it shifted on its axis and everything changed. We<br />
were no longer able to look forward with the<br />
same excitement to our baby’s birth, and I was<br />
definitely not going to go to a series of antenatal<br />
classes and sit alongside mums who nothing<br />
else to concern them apart from what sex their<br />
baby was and what the latest buggy to buy was!<br />
Every year, 5000 – 6000 babies are born in the<br />
UK with a heart condition. On average, up to<br />
35% of those babies will have been diagnosed<br />
after a 20 week anomaly scan, and the<br />
remainder will be diagnosed fairly soon after<br />
birth, often in emergency circumstances. The fetal<br />
cardiology service at <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s Hospital is<br />
one of the largest in the UK and internationally,<br />
specialising in the diagnosis and management of<br />
congenital heart disease before birth. This<br />
includes structural heart defects, functional<br />
abnormalities of the heart and rhythm<br />
disturbances. The unit receives referrals from a<br />
wide area, seeing patients from 50-60 different<br />
obstetric units. Approximately 2000 pregnant<br />
women are scanned each year and between 150<br />
– 200 cases of fetal cardiac abnormalities are<br />
diagnosed and managed per annum.<br />
Six years ago we conceived the idea of holding a<br />
special Antenatal Education Day with the aim of<br />
providing a sort of one-stop condensed class for<br />
parents who were expecting a “heart-baby” and<br />
working in collaboration with Fetal Cardiology<br />
and the Thames/Tower Team Specialist Midwives,<br />
the first “<strong>ECHO</strong> Antenatal Education Day” was<br />
held. <strong>ECHO</strong> sponsored the day by funding the<br />
midwives to facilitate the class and also provided<br />
lunch and refreshments throughout the day. I<br />
went along to the inaugural class and sat in to<br />
observe how it worked. I also did a short talk to<br />
the parents at the end of the afternoon session<br />
about my experiences with my own heart-baby<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> ANTENATAL CLASSES AT ST THOMAS’<br />
SUPPORTING PARENTS THROUGH AN ANTENATAL DIAGNOSIS<br />
as well as informing them about the support and<br />
services <strong>ECHO</strong> provides. We were all a little<br />
unsure of how these classes would be received<br />
by parents… would they be well attended; would<br />
parents find them useful; would the parents feel<br />
more positive about their baby’s impending birth<br />
if they went to one of the classes?<br />
To this day, I can still remember how positive that<br />
first class felt to observe. It was clear that the<br />
parents there were really going to benefit from<br />
the expert guidance the midwives were able to<br />
give - just because they were expecting a baby<br />
with a heart problem didn’t mean that they<br />
should not be prepared properly for the baby’s<br />
birth, to be informed about the benefits of and<br />
techniques for breastfeeding, to understand the<br />
different stages of labour and birth or how pain<br />
relief would be able to help them through it if<br />
they so chose. However, without doubt, the most<br />
impact came from seeing the parents sit<br />
together, getting comfort from knowing that they<br />
weren’t going through the worry and fear about<br />
their baby’s future alone and that others had<br />
exactly the same emotions as them. Not only<br />
that, but being able to listen to an experienced<br />
parent speak about actually having had a baby<br />
with a heart condition (or “one I made earlier” as<br />
I jokingly referred to the photos I showed them of<br />
my daughter Cissy) quite clearly made a big<br />
difference to them all.<br />
Manjit Randhawa, Matron and Lead Midwife for<br />
the Thames/Tower Team at St Thomas’ was one<br />
of the key people responsible for the introduction<br />
of the classes and says that the midwifes have<br />
always enjoyed facilitating the classes as they<br />
really know it makes a difference to the patients’<br />
journey and experience - there is always at least<br />
one parent who says, “We thought we were the<br />
only ones and felt so alone”. She continues, “The<br />
feedback has been always been consistent in<br />
that parents-to-be find the day very useful and<br />
the most enjoyable parts of the day are without<br />
doubt the tour of the neonatal unit and listening<br />
and talking to the <strong>ECHO</strong> representative”.<br />
From the positive feedback we had we knew the<br />
classes had to become a regular feature and<br />
over the past six years the <strong>ECHO</strong> Antenatal days<br />
have become an integral part of the “care<br />
pathway” which parents who are expecting a<br />
baby with a heart condition can expect, and have<br />
become a key part of the support which the<br />
hospital and <strong>ECHO</strong> offers. We are able to work<br />
with the Fetal Cardiology department to provide<br />
support and friendship from the earliest days<br />
after diagnosis for those parents who want it.<br />
Sherrida Rollings, Nurse Counsellor in the Fetal<br />
Cardiology Dept at the <strong>Evelina</strong> says “<strong>ECHO</strong> offers<br />
invaluable support and information to parents<br />
who have just been told that their unborn baby<br />
has a heart problem. This is two-fold, with a<br />
comprehensive rota, where specially trained<br />
volunteers offer telephone and email support. All<br />
newly diagnosed parents can contact someone<br />
who knows what they are going through. The<br />
specialist antenatal classes sponsored by <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
have also been a huge success, and are<br />
extremely well evaluated. Not only do they<br />
provide invaluable emotional support and<br />
practical information, but parents are also able to<br />
see the birth centre where their baby will be<br />
born, and the neonatal unit where the baby will<br />
be taken immediately after the delivery. Parents<br />
also meet others at a similar stage of pregnancy,<br />
and many will keep in contact and meet up<br />
again after their babies are born. These classes<br />
are open to all who are seen here with an<br />
antenatal diagnosis, regardless of where they will<br />
eventually deliver the baby.Both of these<br />
resources can make a real difference in helping<br />
parents come to terms with the often devastating<br />
diagnosis of congenital heart disease.”<br />
We estimate that up to six hundred parents have<br />
attended an <strong>ECHO</strong> Antenatal Day over the past<br />
few years and it is very gratifying to know that<br />
they have been of real benefit, not only in<br />
preparing parents for their baby’s birth and,<br />
possibly, for surgery or intervention very shortly<br />
after baby’s arrival but also that many great<br />
friendships have begun at the classes, allowing<br />
parents to support each other through the<br />
inevitable ups and downs to come once their<br />
baby arrives. <strong>ECHO</strong> member Caroline Jeal<br />
remembers “My husband and I attended the<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> Antenatal day a couple of months before<br />
our daughter Keira was born with TGA. We<br />
arrived there feeling quite nervous and<br />
apprehensive but we immediately felt at ease<br />
when we got chatting to other parents and<br />
realised we weren't alone. The midwives that ran<br />
the group were so nice and very informative. This<br />
was invaluable to us and we came away feeling<br />
much more positive about the challenges ahead.<br />
We are still in touch with other parents we met<br />
that day and over the past couple of months our<br />
children have all turned 3. We meet up regularly<br />
and the children now look forward to seeing<br />
each other as much as us parents do! It's great<br />
to see them running around together, knowing<br />
they have something very special in common. It's<br />
thanks to <strong>ECHO</strong> running these antenatal days<br />
that we all got to meet each other in the first<br />
place.<br />
Dr Gurleen Sharland, Consultant Fetal<br />
Cardiologist at the <strong>Evelina</strong> says “As a fetal<br />
cardiologist I often have to give bad news to<br />
parents about their baby’s heart. They are<br />
naturally devastated to hear that their baby has a<br />
heart problem and may find it difficult to accept<br />
or come to terms with this. Whilst we try and be<br />
sensitive and supportive, there is no doubt in my<br />
mind that the support and contact of members of<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> is invaluable to parents at what can be an<br />
extremely emotional and distressing time and to<br />
be able to give them the opportunity to attend an<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> Antenatal Day, to reinforce that they are<br />
not alone and that other parents are going<br />
through a similar situation can provide<br />
tremendous encouragement and support. I<br />
regard the work of <strong>ECHO</strong> as a very important<br />
component of our prenatal cardiology service and<br />
all parents should have the opportunity to access<br />
this type of support when a prenatal diagnosis<br />
has been made”.<br />
Joanna Blewett volunteers to attend the Antenatal<br />
days as an <strong>ECHO</strong> parent rep to share her<br />
experiences of having a heart baby – “Although it<br />
has been 3 years since my husband and I<br />
attended the <strong>ECHO</strong> Antenatal day we can still<br />
remember it as though it were yesterday. We<br />
were very anxious and felt like the only expectant<br />
parents to be having a heart child. The day was<br />
extremely informative, hosted by the Tower<br />
midwife team with a heart parent joining at the<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> member, Maxine<br />
Reece tragically<br />
passed away in April<br />
this year. Her sister<br />
Gemma has written<br />
this lovely piece<br />
about Maxine. Trish<br />
Kenney and Eric<br />
Rosenthal also<br />
wanted to share<br />
their memories of<br />
Maxine. Maxine’s<br />
family and friends<br />
generously donated the amazing sum of<br />
£2303 raised in memory of her, to be divided<br />
between <strong>ECHO</strong> and the <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong><br />
Fund<br />
Maxine Reece<br />
When Maxine was born in 1981 with complex,<br />
inoperable congenital heart disease and doctors<br />
told my parents that the outlook for their new<br />
baby was not good, they could not have dared<br />
to imagine the beautiful, successful and<br />
independent woman their daughter was to<br />
become.<br />
To deny that it was a rocky road for my sister<br />
would be to be untruthful. There were very<br />
difficult times for us as a family, and many<br />
challenges for her to overcome. Learning to live<br />
with a life-threatening condition is the biggest<br />
challenge of all. Yet Maxine, throughout the<br />
course of her 30 years, showed that a sense of<br />
humour, stoic determination and most of all, a<br />
true love of life can be invaluable tools in<br />
negotiating a path through the years.<br />
At Guy’s Hospital as a teenager, she was a<br />
smiling face on the paediatric ward and was<br />
always visiting the babies to cheer her up during<br />
long, painful stays. Her love of the little ones<br />
developed into a career, when Maxine decided<br />
to pursue childcare after leaving school. She<br />
worked at children’s clubs and nurseries and<br />
was fiercely proud of her commitment to<br />
earning a living. It is testament to her work ethic<br />
that, on receiving the doctor’s prognosis during<br />
her final hospital stay, Maxine’s first words were:<br />
end to tell you their story. It also gave us the<br />
opportunity to meet with other parents in the<br />
same situation as ourselves and made us feel<br />
less isolated, less "different". This is why I<br />
volunteered to take part in the days; to provide a<br />
small insight into the life of a heart parent, to<br />
share our experience and to show that there is<br />
light at the end of the tunnel. As well as helping<br />
other parents-to-be I found my first time<br />
volunteering at an Antenatal Day really emotional;<br />
the last time I'd been in that room I was sitting<br />
there with all the fears and anxieties they now<br />
felt. However, it also reinstated to me how far our<br />
family had come. Giving up a few hours of my<br />
time, I knew, had made the world of difference to<br />
those soon to be parents and travelling home<br />
that afternoon I was pleased to have given<br />
something back to the heart community at a time<br />
when they need it most.”<br />
We are extremely proud of this groundbreaking<br />
initiative which has, no doubt, made a huge<br />
difference to so many parents at a time in their<br />
lives when they may have felt isolated and<br />
frightened about the future for them and their<br />
unborn baby. We would like to see the day when<br />
similar classes are offered to ALL parents who are<br />
expecting a heart baby, no matter where they live<br />
or where their baby will be born in England and<br />
Wales!<br />
JO WILSON<br />
A LIFE LESS ORDINARY – MAXINE REECE<br />
‘Will it affect my ability to work with the<br />
children?’<br />
Maxine’s true love was theatre and she was a<br />
well-known amateur actress in her hometown,<br />
Tring in Hertfordshire. Her performance of Alice<br />
in the production of The Vicar of Dibley had the<br />
audience in fits of laughter and will always be<br />
remembered. In fact, Maxine was such a<br />
prolific actress that we counted 28 shows in<br />
which she had appeared over the years. She<br />
loved the shows, the social side of the theatre,<br />
the dressing up and the banter.<br />
When Maxine passed away in April this year,<br />
after becoming ill with unrelated bowel<br />
problems and sadly not making it through the<br />
three operations she underwent, a huge surge<br />
of love and support poured forward from family<br />
and friends. Maxine had become such a wellloved<br />
face in Tring, that one friend remarked:<br />
‘She was a huge part of our culture.’ As the<br />
tributes poured in, one word kept appearing<br />
over and over again: ‘inspirational.’ So many<br />
people were touched by Maxine’s joie de vivre<br />
in the face of adversity, that it seemed her<br />
attitude had a lot to teach many of us in more<br />
fortunate positions.<br />
In turn, I hope that hearing about all the things<br />
that Maxine had achieved can be inspiring for<br />
you, too. Gemma Reece<br />
Back in 1996 when Maxine was an inpatient, I<br />
was one of the sisters on Rothschild ward. I was<br />
sorry and sad when Eric told me that Maxine<br />
had died. I immediately thought back to the<br />
time when Maxine spent many weeks on<br />
Rothschild and was very unwell. Maxine pulled<br />
through after a lot of determination. I remember<br />
Maxine’s mother Eileen, father Dave and sister<br />
Gemma who all gave constant encouragement<br />
to Maxine and were a positive and strong<br />
family. As Maxine got better there was lots of<br />
fun and laugher as Maxine had an amazing<br />
character and humour. The other person I<br />
remember was Grandma who used to arrive<br />
with yummy home-made cakes.<br />
I remember Maxine on other admissions before<br />
she moved into the adult service - but Eric was<br />
still her consultant and kept us informed of how<br />
she was doing - getting a job, learning to drive<br />
and getting a flat!! Maxine always loved the little<br />
babies on the ward and I was not surprised<br />
when she became a child care assistant. From<br />
what I understand Maxine lived life to the full.<br />
The Maxine I remember loved fashion, had a<br />
beautiful smile and was lovely. My thoughts are<br />
very much with the family. Trish Kenney,<br />
Paediatric Cardiac Outreach Sister<br />
Maxine was born with a double inlet left<br />
ventricle and unfortunately despite palliation<br />
with a duct ligation and pulmonary artery band<br />
she developed early pulmonary vascular<br />
disease that prevented her proceeding to a<br />
Fontan operation. And as if the anatomical<br />
problem was not enough her condition was<br />
complicated by heart block requiring pacing<br />
from an early age. She developed a serious<br />
infection on her pacemaker lead and required<br />
surgery and prolonged medical treatment to<br />
cure it. With support from her family and the<br />
nursing staff on Rothschild ward she maintained<br />
her spirit through this exceptionally difficult time.<br />
It was a privilege and a pleasure to look after<br />
her for over 20 years and watch her grow from<br />
a child, through adolescence into a mature and<br />
independent adult. She coped admirably with<br />
her condition and was very successful in leading<br />
a full and productive life. Her e-mail alias<br />
“mightymaxibaby” said it all! Her e-mails were<br />
always interesting – even when not challenging<br />
medical advice which she frequently did and her<br />
visits were also highly anticipated.<br />
The celebration of her life drew hundreds and<br />
was a fitting tribute to her and of course her<br />
family. She was one special girl and I will miss<br />
her.<br />
Eric Rosenthal, Consultant Paediatric & Adult<br />
Congenital Cardiologist<br />
12 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 13<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> FUNDRAISING<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> FUNDRAISING<br />
Fundraising<br />
Thank you to all our members<br />
and their families and friends<br />
who have continued to fundraise<br />
and donate to <strong>ECHO</strong> over the<br />
past few months. We have<br />
received too many contributions<br />
for me to be able to mention you<br />
all, but here are a few I would<br />
like to share with you.<br />
Annie Gale's daughter Minnie<br />
celebrated her 6th birthday and<br />
donated sweetie money to <strong>ECHO</strong>! On<br />
each party bag they put a little sticker to<br />
say 'instead of having some extra<br />
sweeties in your party bag, we have<br />
given a bit of money to a charity called<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong>, from you. This will help children<br />
with poorly hearts. Thank you xxx'. Such<br />
a wonderful idea, thank you to the<br />
Gales for their donation of £40.<br />
Thank you to friends and family of Violet<br />
May Westover for their kind donations<br />
totalling £200. Joan Westover arranged<br />
donations to <strong>ECHO</strong> in memory of her<br />
mother in law Violet.<br />
James Hook<br />
Thank you to the Hook family. In the<br />
half term holiday James Hook, aged 12,<br />
decided he wanted to hold a cake sale<br />
to raise funds for <strong>ECHO</strong>, which he calls<br />
'his charity'! Along with a friend, and his<br />
brother William and sister Heidi-Louise,<br />
they raised £200. James's mum Jane<br />
writes: "James has HLHS and is doing<br />
amazingly. He loves rugby and hockey<br />
at school. He started senior school in<br />
September and loves to get to school<br />
early so he has more time to play<br />
football with the year 11 boys!"<br />
Elissa Holloway held a girls night at her<br />
friend Caroline's house and raised<br />
£320. They charged £10 per person<br />
which included fizz and nibbles on<br />
arrival and a two course dinner. They<br />
sold raffle tickets for prizes donated by<br />
local shops and restaurants and family<br />
and friends, as well as <strong>ECHO</strong> teddies<br />
and t-shirts. Elissa said: "We organised<br />
a couple of silly games with more <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
teddies, badges and key rings as<br />
winners prizes. We also put together a<br />
great playlist so there was plenty of<br />
dancing later too!" Thank you Elissa for<br />
such a great fundraising idea!<br />
Thank you to Martin Pavey who raised<br />
£640 by holding a charity quiz night on<br />
18th February at his local sports club<br />
Crofton Albion. Martin writes: "The<br />
evening was very well attended with<br />
around 60 people forming 10 teams<br />
battling to become the latest quiz<br />
champs and take home bottles of wine<br />
for the winners. Questions such as 'how<br />
many hairs are there on the average<br />
human adult body?' and 'Thomas<br />
Wedder is attributed with the longest<br />
nose at how many inches?' kept the<br />
contestants on the edge of their<br />
seats…. or was that just them straining<br />
to get to the bar at the interval?!"<br />
Thank you to Hayes School in Bromley,<br />
for raising £101.73 during their<br />
Dancefest.<br />
Anwen Morris, friend of member<br />
Magali Gauthier, raised £1043 for<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong>. Magali writes: "Thanks to the<br />
very generous donations from friends<br />
and family, our friend Anwen Morris has<br />
managed to raise over £1000 for <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
by running the Reading half-marathon<br />
at the beginning of April. Her<br />
determination and hard training paid off<br />
as she completed the race in just over 2<br />
hours. She is pictured here with our son<br />
Samuel of 5 months who was born at<br />
the <strong>Evelina</strong> in October 2011 and<br />
underwent successful open heart<br />
surgery to correct his TGA heart<br />
condition at only a week old." Thank you<br />
Anwen.<br />
Anwen and Samuel<br />
Thanks to Joyce Schofield for donating<br />
£400 in lieu of gifts for her husband's<br />
70th birthday.<br />
Thank you to Bam Grey who celebrated<br />
her 40th birthday this year and held a<br />
party on 21st April. She asked for<br />
donations to <strong>ECHO</strong> in lieu of gifts. She<br />
has donated a fantastic £950!<br />
Thank you to member Simon Baker<br />
who raised £3,400 through raffle ticket<br />
purchases, competition entries and<br />
other donations at the South Coast Slam<br />
at The Charmandean in Worthing .<br />
Thank you to all the organisers for all<br />
their hard work in making it such a<br />
successful event.<br />
David Stokes raised a fantastic<br />
£2337.63. David writes: "Lifting a car for<br />
charity with 6 weeks notice. I have finally<br />
lost the plot, or have I????<br />
As many of my friends, family and<br />
colleagues know my world was blown<br />
apart two years ago when Natalie and I<br />
received the news that no parents<br />
would want to hear. At our 21 week<br />
scan, our unborn son was diagnosed<br />
with a major heart defect and we were<br />
sent immediately to the <strong>Evelina</strong><br />
children’s hospital for the first of what<br />
would be many visits, unfortunately<br />
Congenital heart disease was confirmed<br />
and he was diagnosed with Tetralogy of<br />
Fallot, a rare condition which would<br />
require corrective surgery when he was<br />
born.<br />
Kai was born on the 23 March 2010 at<br />
the Conquest Hospital by planned<br />
caesarean section as the consultants<br />
were unsure as to how Kai’s heart<br />
would cope with a normal delivery. Kai<br />
was transferred to the <strong>Evelina</strong> soon after<br />
where he was given a thorough check<br />
David<br />
Kai<br />
and given the all clear to come home<br />
but would continue to be monitored with<br />
a view to commence corrective surgery<br />
once he had gained the required<br />
weight.<br />
When Kai was 8 months old and after<br />
many appointments at the <strong>Evelina</strong> they<br />
decided the time was right for his<br />
surgery and on the 10 December 2010<br />
he underwent successful open heart<br />
surgery to correct his heart.<br />
We all have a tendency to think we are<br />
having a tough day or seen a few<br />
challenges in our lives but this was the<br />
hardest time of our lives and without the<br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Hospital, the amazing nurses,<br />
consultants, surgeons and the support<br />
of echo, I cannot begin to imagine<br />
where we would be today and this is<br />
the start of me trying to say thank you<br />
for a service and gift money cannot buy.<br />
So, all this considered am I really that<br />
crazy to raise money for these people??<br />
I don’t think so and I am training to lift a<br />
car so don’t argue with me!"<br />
David managed a total of 11 lifts in the<br />
60 seconds. Well done David!!<br />
Thanks to <strong>ECHO</strong> member and volunteer,<br />
Debbie Houghton's daughter Charlotte<br />
and her class Form 7N at Newstead<br />
Woods School for Girls, for raising<br />
£66.97 through holding a sponsored<br />
silence. Charlotte recommended <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
as one of the charities to receive the<br />
money raised. Debbie said: "Everyone in<br />
her class did a sponsored silence for the<br />
whole day (bet the teachers loved that)!"<br />
Thank you also to Debbie's mum for her<br />
kind donation of £25.<br />
Sharne Kelly held a pamper<br />
evening raising a fantastic<br />
£1093.30 for <strong>ECHO</strong>. She said:<br />
"The money was raised through<br />
ticket sales, donations<br />
from therapists and<br />
raffle tickets. Defluo<br />
plumbing and<br />
drainage<br />
sponsored the<br />
event by providing<br />
2 glasses of wine<br />
for every ticket<br />
brought." Thank<br />
you Sharne.<br />
Emma Orpin, our<br />
lovely Admin Assistant's brother in law<br />
Martyn Monk took part in the Three<br />
Peak Challenge and raised a wonderful<br />
£700 for <strong>ECHO</strong>. Thank you to Martyn<br />
and his team: Adam Jamieson, Andrzej<br />
Chec, Chris Hoskison, David Peters,<br />
Simon Ashley and their driver Piers<br />
Cooper<br />
Martyn and his team<br />
At the top!<br />
And last, but by no means least, thank<br />
you to Emily Ellis, Sister on Savannah,<br />
and her friend Liz, who ran 10K on the<br />
5th May and raised £440 for ECH0.<br />
Thank you Emily and Liz!!<br />
Jessica Cattermole<br />
Bam Grey and<br />
her boys<br />
14 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 15<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> FUNDRAISING<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> FUNDRAISING<br />
Fundraising<br />
We had twelve runners take part in<br />
the London Marathon on 22nd April<br />
<strong>2012</strong> using <strong>ECHO</strong> places and another<br />
two runners who ran with their own<br />
places. We also had a friend of a<br />
member take part in the Brighton<br />
Marathon the week before! Here are<br />
some of their accounts of the day.<br />
Nat Scott<br />
Cree, <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
member and<br />
father of Lucy,<br />
ran for <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
with his brother<br />
Paul. Nat<br />
writes: "It was<br />
their first<br />
marathon and<br />
after the long,<br />
cold winter of<br />
Nat and Paul training, a day<br />
of glorious<br />
sunshine welcomed them to Blackheath<br />
for the start. Some four hours and fortythree<br />
minutes later, they crossed the line<br />
in Westminster, worse-for-wear, but in<br />
one piece having resisted the<br />
temptation to walk on several<br />
occasions! It was a truly wonderful<br />
experience and a great team of<br />
supporters was there to cheer us the<br />
last few hundred yards on Birdcage<br />
Walk (including Lucy). A big thank you<br />
to them! We had many generous<br />
sponsors, and to date we have raised a<br />
grand total of £3277.74, with donations<br />
still trickling in."<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> Member, Steve Caine writes:<br />
"Thanks for giving me a place to run. It<br />
was amazing and even more so as I<br />
have raised just under £3000 for <strong>ECHO</strong>."<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> Member David Paling writes: "I<br />
ran this years marathon to raise money<br />
for <strong>ECHO</strong> as it is such a great<br />
organisation. We (my wife and I) have<br />
been members for several years now<br />
since my<br />
eldest son<br />
Sebastian was<br />
born with TGA<br />
in 2004.<br />
Sebastian was<br />
very excited<br />
about me<br />
running and<br />
often asked if I<br />
thought I'd<br />
win! I'm not<br />
Steve Caine really a runner<br />
so started my<br />
training last summer starting at about 4<br />
mile runs and gradually building up in<br />
the lead up to the big day. What a<br />
fantastic day it was, hats off to the<br />
organisers for it all going so smoothly.<br />
The spectators were great and the<br />
many comments about the 118 tache<br />
(dyed red) I'd grown for the run and all<br />
the other encouragement really helped<br />
and added to the whole atmosphere. I<br />
saw my family twice, once at Canary<br />
Wharf where I still felt reasonably fresh<br />
and then again near Westminster by<br />
which point it was getting very painful,<br />
in fact the last six miles were painful but<br />
I was determined not to stop or walk. I<br />
completed the run in 4hrs 14 mins which<br />
I was very happy with and even better<br />
David with Thomas and Sebastian<br />
Meet Our<br />
Marathon<br />
Runners!!<br />
than that I have so far raised over<br />
£2,700 with more still owed. Meeting<br />
my family at the end was such a good<br />
feeling and I even managed a couple of<br />
pints after stretching off. I'm so glad I<br />
managed to raise the money for <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
and give something back for all the help<br />
they have given to us and others. By the<br />
way the moustache came off that night."<br />
Nev Niyazi, friend of <strong>ECHO</strong> member<br />
Grant Taylor, and his friend Ben O'shea,<br />
both ran for <strong>ECHO</strong>. Nev writes: "Running<br />
the London Marathon was not only a<br />
personal ambition of mine but also an<br />
opportunity for me to raise money for a<br />
worthy cause. Echo is particularly<br />
important to me as it helped my very<br />
close friends when their son, Charlie,<br />
who was diagnosed and treated for<br />
severe heart defects. Fortunately, Charlie<br />
is now a happy, healthy, amazing 5 year<br />
old boy but I know that they all<br />
benefitted greatly from the support of<br />
this amazing charity. So when the<br />
opportunity arose and Grant said that I<br />
may be able to run for <strong>ECHO</strong> I was<br />
thrilled. Before I knew it myself and Ben<br />
were signed up and the training was<br />
under way. Come race day and meeting<br />
some of the other echo runners before<br />
and during the race really added to the<br />
electric atmosphere created by the<br />
thousands who lined the streets.<br />
However, the only downside to the day<br />
was that I missed selection for team GB<br />
for this year's Olympics by 2 and a half<br />
hours. Never mind better luck next time.<br />
:)"<br />
Greg Edwards, whose niece Charlotte is<br />
treated at the <strong>Evelina</strong> writes: "The<br />
Marathon was a truly amazing<br />
experience. I can’t really describe the<br />
feeling of being a part of such a<br />
prestigious event and being able to<br />
raise money for such a worthy cause.<br />
There was a point before the marathon<br />
where I thought that I would be unable<br />
to run. Three days before the event I<br />
had bronchitis and my doctor advised<br />
me not to run. I thought I would rest up<br />
and see how I felt on the day. When I<br />
started the race I didn’t feel 100% and so<br />
I decided to take it slow and just try to<br />
enjoy the experience. I’m really glad I<br />
did as I was able to take in the whole<br />
atmosphere of the day. It was tough at<br />
times and there were occasions that I<br />
thought I may have to drop out, but the<br />
crowd cheering my name really lifted<br />
me during the tough times and I was<br />
able to push on. I also had some friends<br />
and family with me who I saw every few<br />
miles after the halfway point and my<br />
wife and daughter were waiting for me<br />
at mile 24, my daughter had a banner<br />
that said “Run daddy run! I think<br />
knowing that they were waiting for me<br />
is what got me to the finish in the end.<br />
I managed to finish in 4hrs 58mins,<br />
which is about an hour outside what I<br />
was aiming for, but I am very pleased to<br />
have been given the opportunity to take<br />
part.<br />
I have managed to raise a total of<br />
£2078."<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> member Ian Littlewood ran for<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> and has raised £5248 and his<br />
friend Nick Ralph also ran, and raised<br />
£2050. Ian writes: "I decided to run the<br />
marathon to raise money for <strong>ECHO</strong> after<br />
receiving such amazing care for my son,<br />
Jude, when he was born with<br />
Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA)<br />
in September last year. We knew about<br />
his condition in advance so it seemed to<br />
me like he would be born, whisked<br />
away, fitted with a few tubes and given<br />
some drugs which would stabilise him<br />
for a few days. Then he would have an<br />
operation that would fix him and we<br />
would all live happily ever after. As it<br />
turned out, things didn't quite go to plan<br />
as Jude went downhill very quickly<br />
when he was born. He had to have an<br />
emergency balloon septostomy,<br />
although this didn't quite go to plan<br />
either. After the septostomy I went<br />
down to see him in NICU but two<br />
Doctors were in the middle of doing<br />
something to him. The look on their<br />
faces told me things weren't going well<br />
at all. I said I would come back later<br />
and wandered back to see my wife,<br />
Deirdre, who was in recovery from her C<br />
section. As I left NICU I felt sick. For the<br />
next few hours we waited in the<br />
recovery room together wondering what<br />
was happening. I can't now remember<br />
whether I told Deirdre the full extent of<br />
what I felt seemed to be happening or if<br />
I tried to protect her in the hope<br />
everything would be OK. After what<br />
seemed like an age we saw a Doctor<br />
who explained part of what had<br />
happened and that Jude was to be<br />
transferred to PICU. We went down to<br />
see him just before he went across to<br />
PICU. It was the next day before I<br />
discovered the full extent of what had<br />
happened to Jude. He simply hadn't<br />
been getting enough oxygen and each<br />
of his organs began to shut down in<br />
order. This culminated in his heart<br />
stopping for some thirty seconds before<br />
his was brought back to life by CPR.<br />
"Just like on the telly" as Doctor<br />
explained to me later. This also meant<br />
that his brain was starved of oxygen for<br />
half a minute. He slowly got better over<br />
the next few days but then would have<br />
little episodes where his blood oxygen<br />
levels would drop suddenly. On Jude's<br />
sixth day I woke up thinking that today<br />
would be the day, even though it wasn't<br />
planned to be. As it turned out I was<br />
right. It was decided that the best<br />
course of action given his circumstances<br />
was to operate that day and that it was<br />
to be that afternoon. I was quite<br />
relieved that it would happen and just<br />
wanted to get it over and done with. At<br />
about 4 or 5 pm he was taken down to<br />
surgery. Deirdre and I then went off to<br />
have what we both hoped would be an<br />
incredibly slow dinner. We received<br />
probably the fastest dinner that Locale<br />
have ever served. This left us at a bit of<br />
a loose end for a while so we went and<br />
had a coffee and a beer in the bar at<br />
the Marriot. At about 9pm we<br />
wandered slowly back to our room<br />
in the Ronald McDonald House<br />
within the <strong>Evelina</strong>. After only around<br />
ten minutes we got the call from the<br />
nurse at PICU that Jude was back<br />
and that everything had gone well.<br />
We raced up to see him. He looked<br />
a bit puffy and remarkably similar to<br />
some of the other post op pictures<br />
I have seen in <strong>ECHO</strong> newsletters.<br />
Over the next few days he got<br />
stronger and the next step was<br />
from him to be taken off his ventilator.<br />
This also didn't go well at the first<br />
attempt but he got there in the end. We<br />
also spoke to a neurologist to discuss<br />
the brain scan that Jude had had to see<br />
what might have happened when he<br />
was starved of oxygen. It turns out that<br />
there was very little damage considering<br />
what had happened but that bold truth<br />
was that they didn't really know what<br />
that would mean and we might not<br />
know until he is much older. Not exactly<br />
the black or white answer that we<br />
wanted. There were quite a few other<br />
ups and downs along the way but after<br />
a month or so we got Jude home. He<br />
seems to be developing "normally",<br />
although perhaps a little behind which<br />
is "normal" for what he went through.<br />
Anyway, I digress, I was only going to<br />
write a sentence or two about Jude to<br />
give a little background... I have to<br />
admit, part of the reason I wanted to do<br />
the marathon was simply to feel just a<br />
little of the pain that he must have gone<br />
through. This was quite useful during<br />
training as the sleet, snow and hail that<br />
felt like daggers in my face during subzero<br />
runs across Blackheath made me<br />
feel good. It also meant that I was<br />
never, ever going to stop or give up, just<br />
like Jude didn't. I was also spurred on<br />
by the incredibly generous donations<br />
from friends and colleagues that were<br />
mounting up on justgiving.<br />
The day itself was a truly remarkable<br />
experience that I would recommend to<br />
anyone. To be<br />
cheered on<br />
by<br />
random<br />
strangers<br />
over and<br />
over again<br />
really<br />
Ian<br />
Littlewood<br />
with Jude<br />
16 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 17<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> FUNDRAISING<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> FUNDRAISING<br />
Ian and Nick<br />
operations…..again reminding me that<br />
not everyone is so fortunate. That said,<br />
by working together like we did, vital<br />
funds have been raised, hopefully<br />
improving chances for others through<br />
research, equipment and expertise."<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> member Simon Fricke writes:<br />
"Choosing to run the London marathon<br />
this year for <strong>ECHO</strong> was an easy<br />
decision. My wife Alex and I had never<br />
heard of <strong>ECHO</strong> until our baby daughter<br />
Meredith was born in June last year.<br />
Meredith was diagnosed with Wolff-<br />
The marathon itself was nothing new to<br />
me but it's always a challenge. I had<br />
my cheer team at various points on the<br />
course to help me along the way. My<br />
parents have it down to an art now as I<br />
see them at the 6, 14 and 21 mile<br />
marks. I managed to glimpse Alex's<br />
head above the crowd at Tower Bridge<br />
but Meredith was unfortunately hidden.<br />
Still, the thought of running for Meredith<br />
and so many other babies and children<br />
really kept me going."<br />
Simon Openshaw completed marathon<br />
in 4 hrs 40, and raised over £3,000.<br />
Simon's son Sam was at the <strong>Evelina</strong> at<br />
Alan<br />
out! As you are aware I ran in memory<br />
of Harrison Smith, when my knee was<br />
causing me such pain I kept telling<br />
myself it is nothing like the pain Caroline<br />
and Jake have experienced over the last<br />
year. This and seeing my family along<br />
The Embankment at 24.5miles kept me<br />
going. I can honestly say it is the most<br />
physically demanding thing I have ever<br />
done, but a truly amazing experience! I<br />
actually saw Caroline's brother<br />
(Harrison's uncle), Alan Border, before<br />
we started, we hadn't arranged to meet<br />
up so how amazing that we were<br />
running for the same person and saw<br />
each other for a chat! I have raised over<br />
£1,100 for <strong>ECHO</strong> and have memories to<br />
last me a lifetime!" Alan also raised over<br />
£1,100!<br />
Geoff Manns friend of members Karen<br />
Beynon and Mandy Head, ran the<br />
Brighton marathon on the 15th April and<br />
raised over £800 for <strong>ECHO</strong>. Geoff writes:<br />
"I originally applied for the Brighton<br />
Marathon <strong>2012</strong> in May 2011, It’s funny<br />
how the months race past and you<br />
realize the reality sets in that you are<br />
going to have to start some serious<br />
training at least 4 months before The<br />
Day.<br />
Having only run a few 10k races (6.2<br />
miles) to think of over 26 miles was<br />
arduous to say the least. Training went<br />
quite well by increasing my mileage by<br />
an extra one each week. My worst<br />
experience was running 15 miles and<br />
getting home with pains below both<br />
knees, even jumping up road curbs was<br />
a struggle….only to be told by my 10<br />
year old daughter. I will have to run<br />
another 11 plus miles on the day. An<br />
experienced running neighbor of mine<br />
told me when I get to 20 miles in the<br />
race you're about half way there!<br />
Meaning the remaining 6 will be<br />
tough…Sobering thought.<br />
The day itself was great with amazing<br />
support and a really good vibe around<br />
the course. To see friends and family<br />
around the route gives you a much<br />
needed extra energy boost. I must<br />
admit the last 6 miles were like running<br />
in treacle, with your running shoes<br />
scuffing on the road as you lose the<br />
power to lift up your legs. The finishing<br />
post was a great sight for my tired legs.<br />
I finished the race in 3 hours 53 minutes<br />
and 18 secs. I hope the money raised is<br />
useful in many ways for this deserving<br />
Charity".<br />
Thank you Jo, Alan, Geoff and all of<br />
our fantastic runners for choosing to<br />
run for <strong>ECHO</strong>.<br />
Ian Littlewood with Jude<br />
helped a lot. I planned to get around<br />
London in 4 hours and I did exactly that,<br />
after a "sprint" over the last few hundred<br />
metres meant that I crossed the line in<br />
4.00.00. I waited for my friend Nick<br />
who was also running for <strong>ECHO</strong> and<br />
then we went for a drink and bite to eat<br />
at the Marriot. Somehow, it seemed<br />
appropriate." and Nick writes: "Your<br />
experience put things into perspective<br />
for me, especially in relation to the birth<br />
of my baby daughter, Nina. Child birth<br />
is not something that we should take for<br />
granted, nor should we ever forget how<br />
skilled and professional people are in<br />
the NHS. Supporting you and Jude was<br />
the least I could do. No matter how long<br />
or painful. Throughout the marathon I<br />
bumped into other runners supporting<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong>, one with a story of on-going<br />
Simon Fricke<br />
Parkinson-White syndrome when she<br />
was two weeks old after having spent<br />
four days in intensive care at Kings<br />
College Hospital. The <strong>Evelina</strong> <strong>Children's</strong><br />
Hospital took on the care of Meredith<br />
and we have been provided with great<br />
support by all the staff whenever we<br />
have to stop by for check ups. We also<br />
enjoyed the fantastic Christmas party<br />
held at the Den and look forward to this<br />
year when Meredith can explore a bit<br />
more on her own. Raising the<br />
sponsorship money was great fun. Alex<br />
and I managed cake sales at both of<br />
our offices which went down a storm.<br />
Friends and family also gave generously<br />
and the final tally will be around £2000.<br />
Simon Openshaw<br />
the time of the marathon, so Simon<br />
returned to the hospital after the event<br />
to see his family. Tragically Sam died on<br />
the 18th May. Simon would like to say<br />
thank you to everyone who sponsored<br />
him and to everyone who has<br />
supported them since Sam's death. Our<br />
thoughts go out to Simon, Helen and<br />
Izzy at this desperately sad time.<br />
Thanks also to <strong>ECHO</strong> member Paul<br />
White who also ran using an <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
place.<br />
Jo Codling<br />
Jo Codling ran with her own place, in<br />
memory of <strong>ECHO</strong> members Caroline<br />
and Jake Smith's son Harrison. Jo<br />
writes: "I did it! It took me 4hrs 38mins, I<br />
am pleased with my time as I had to<br />
run with my knee strapped due to an<br />
injury I picked up training. From 10miles<br />
my knee was really unhappy, but there<br />
was just no way I was going to drop<br />
Geoff Manns<br />
OUR MARATHON RUNNERS RAISED OVER £25,000!!!!<br />
18 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 19<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> FUNDRAISING<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> FUNDRAISING<br />
Fundraising<br />
Our Son Ellis was born in January 2011 with<br />
Transposition of the great arteries and was<br />
treated and cared for at <strong>Evelina</strong>.<br />
After some tough times Ellis has made a full<br />
recovery and is now a bubbly and very<br />
determined little toddler.<br />
ANDREA DEANS FUNDRAISING<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> member Anna Campbell and Petts Wood Pavilion Preschool in Kent<br />
raised over £1,400 for <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
We felt so grateful for our little miracle that we<br />
like many before us decided to give<br />
something back.<br />
Fun and Games!<br />
“Wheelie Fundraising Event” – over<br />
£1,400 raised by little legs!<br />
Zoe in the <strong>Evelina</strong><br />
Go Zoe!<br />
On 23rd and 24th May, the Petts Wood<br />
Pavilion Preschool in Kent raised over<br />
£1,000 for <strong>ECHO</strong>. Each child was asked to<br />
complete 8 laps of the bowling green by<br />
form of a “wheel” (bike, scooter or<br />
pushing a pram) and they were<br />
sponsored by friends and family.<br />
It was one of the hottest 2 days of the<br />
year and despite the increasing red<br />
cheeks, all the children took part and<br />
completed the event. They got a sticker a<br />
lap and then much deserved ice lollies!<br />
This event happens annually and this year<br />
the prechool kindly agreed to give the<br />
proceeds to <strong>ECHO</strong>, as my daughter Zoe,<br />
attends the school.<br />
29 of my pregnancy. Being small for<br />
dates, I was examined at Kings Hospital<br />
and they diagnosed that our little girl had<br />
“Tetralogy of Fallot’’. This is a congenital<br />
heart defect where complete repair of four<br />
areas of the heart is required, one of<br />
which is more commonly known as a<br />
“hole in the heart”. We were told that she<br />
would need open heart surgery within<br />
days of being born.<br />
Zoe arrived three weeks early in St<br />
Thomas Hospital by emergency<br />
caesarean weighing a tiny 3lbs 11. All the<br />
medical team were on standby but Zoe<br />
showed us from the start what we now<br />
recognise as her stubbornness and<br />
determination. After a great deal of<br />
scanning and examining they decided she<br />
should get stronger before any further<br />
intervention. So she came home three<br />
weeks later but was regularly monitored<br />
by the cardiologists at the <strong>Evelina</strong>’s<br />
Children’s Hospital. It was a very nervous<br />
time for us all.<br />
At 10 months they decided that it was the<br />
right time for Zoe to have major heart<br />
surgery. We kissed our little girl good bye<br />
and waited an agonising 5 hours. The<br />
operation was successful but we had a<br />
terrifying second night when we nearly<br />
lost her. Two weeks later we were all back<br />
home and trying to lead a normal life.<br />
Zoe remembers nothing of course but it<br />
took us, as parents, a little bit longer to<br />
recover!<br />
Zoe has since gone from strength to<br />
strength. For a three year old she is still<br />
very little but you wouldn’t know the start<br />
she has had in life by just looking at her.<br />
Her favourite game is running and she<br />
can out run her daddy around the house!<br />
It is amazing to watch after everything she<br />
has been through.<br />
Zoe will need further surgery later in life<br />
and continues to have annual check- ups<br />
but in the meantime I wanted to be able<br />
to give something back to say “thank<br />
you”. I do not feel I could ever do enough<br />
to thank the <strong>Evelina</strong> Children Hospital and<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> for saving Zoe’s life and for helping<br />
us as parents to cope with it all.<br />
Thank you to the Petts Wood Pavilion<br />
Preschool for helping to support this<br />
charity.<br />
Anna (Mummy to Zoe)<br />
I started to raise money for <strong>ECHO</strong> by baking<br />
some traditional slovak Christmas biscuits,<br />
which was very successful.<br />
I however had bigger things in mind and<br />
started to organize a big summer event.<br />
Ellis and Fearne<br />
Whilst still in the planning phase I got to know<br />
Michelle Kingston, who also lives in<br />
Edenbridge. Michelle has little girl called<br />
Fearne. Fearne has Hypoplastic left heart<br />
syndrome and she has had norward<br />
procedure stage 1&2 and waiting for stage 3.<br />
She is doing really well.<br />
Michelle and I started to organize our big<br />
event which was challenging having never<br />
done anything like this before; however we<br />
had so much support and encouragement<br />
from our friends and family and the event was<br />
coming along nicely.<br />
Fundraising face painting<br />
Leading up to the event I did a fundraising<br />
face painting at our local Rotary Fete raising<br />
£130 and Ellis's nursery organized a<br />
sponsored Dance and Wriggle which raised<br />
amazing £790. I attended a number of Rotary<br />
Club meetings; these taught me a great deal<br />
about organizing an event and I was<br />
overwhelmed by the support and<br />
encouragement they gave me not to mention<br />
their left over drink from their own summer<br />
festival.<br />
Our event took place on Sunday 8th July at<br />
Crockham Hill Village Hall in Edenbridge Kent.<br />
We had lots planned for the day, but<br />
unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side.<br />
The rain was relentless in the morning which<br />
scrapped a number of my plans and<br />
frightened off the Bouncy castle Company; we<br />
had to improvise and fortunately the venue<br />
had great indoor space.<br />
Still the turn out was very good considering<br />
the rain, Murray in the Wimbledon final and<br />
the F1 Grand Prix. We sold about 120 adult<br />
tickets and people seemed to enjoy<br />
themselves. We had stalls selling lovely things,<br />
lots of donated clothes, books, plants were<br />
also sold. We had lovely cake stall which sold<br />
out, face painting and a princess make over;<br />
kids could also make paper hearts and forest<br />
creatures, garden games and competitions for<br />
kids and even welly wanging which was very<br />
popular when the sun finally smiled down on<br />
us.<br />
We had live music playing all day including my<br />
husband and neighbors doing their first public<br />
guitar jam as well as 3 fantastic local bands;<br />
this made a really nice atmosphere. The raffle<br />
went really well we sold over 1000 tickets this<br />
made all the relentless cold calling on local<br />
shops and businesses worth while. Michelle<br />
even got Peter Andre to donate a signed book<br />
(we secretly hoped he might turn up but it<br />
wasn't to be.<br />
Over all on the day we collected just over<br />
£3,000 which hugely exceeded our<br />
expectations. Our friends and friends of<br />
friends were incredibly supportive. On a<br />
day like this you realize just how<br />
important loyal and hard working your<br />
closest friends are.<br />
The fundraising doesn't stop there,<br />
we still have money coming in<br />
from people who couldn't make it<br />
and also have been promised some<br />
more form some businesses.<br />
Our online donation is currently at £1,500, so<br />
adding everything up we are hoping to reach<br />
£5,000.<br />
We still have ongoing fundraising activities like<br />
Pampered Chef online, where you can shop<br />
your quality kitchen products and 15% of every<br />
purchase will go to <strong>ECHO</strong>.<br />
If you would like to do some shopping just go<br />
to<br />
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/jobanks?page<br />
=host-search-results&showId=3687321<br />
We also have World War 2 military vehicle<br />
driving experiences available, from which all<br />
money will go to <strong>ECHO</strong>.<br />
If anyone is interested in having a really good<br />
day out exploring over 20 different vehicles,<br />
have a ride in them, drive them and have bbq<br />
on top, please let us know!<br />
I would like to say a huge thank you to all who<br />
came but most of all to those who helped to<br />
make it happen, I could not do it without<br />
them!<br />
Andrea x<br />
Ellis<br />
My Story……..<br />
Zoe’s condition was diagnosed at week<br />
20 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
The children having a well-earned rest!<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> member Andrea Deans is hoping to reach her target of<br />
£5,000 through her fantastic fundraising events!!<br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 21<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>ECHO</strong> ETC NEWS<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> ETC NEWS<br />
For<br />
those of you who<br />
may not have seen my previous<br />
article or who don’t already know me, this is a<br />
little bit about me. My name is Hannah Phillips<br />
and I turned seventeen on the 23rd May. I<br />
finished my GCSE’s last year and was very<br />
pleased with my results; I am currently<br />
studying Drama, Spanish, French and<br />
Sociology at college. I enjoy cooking & I’m a<br />
total chocaholic! I love acting and taking the<br />
time to meet new people. Travelling and<br />
learning new languages is my passion. I’m a<br />
huge fan of charity work and will get involved<br />
in any way that I can. I’m very girly, and love to<br />
have a good time; I’m bubbly and (as you can<br />
probably already tell) a huge chatterbox!<br />
After being born three months premature, at<br />
six months I was diagnosed with the heart<br />
disease Ebstien’s anomaly. Since then, like<br />
many other heart patients I have had several<br />
operations and hospital visits over the years.<br />
After surgery in 2008 I suffered from bad<br />
arrhythmia problems and after three years of<br />
trying to cope with it and trying out different<br />
medications, we decided that a pacemaker<br />
would be the best way forward; this was fitted<br />
October last year.<br />
When I was told that I was going to have a<br />
pacemaker fitted I felt really unsure about<br />
what it would be like and I really hated the fact<br />
that this meant more surgery. I thought that it<br />
would be nice to find a creative way of<br />
preparing myself for surgery; however, I also<br />
wanted to be able to help other heart patient’s<br />
deal with the same pacemaker process.<br />
With the help of the <strong>Evelina</strong> we came up with<br />
the idea of creating a video diary of my<br />
pacemaker journey. It shows the weeks<br />
leading up to, during and after surgery. The<br />
diary entries cover how I was feeling before,<br />
during and after, the process as a whole, what<br />
I did to keep calm and load more.<br />
I found that doing the video really helped me<br />
keep calm and remind myself of how it would<br />
help me in the long run. I wanted the video to<br />
have a greater impact and so I have been<br />
working with The <strong>Evelina</strong>, who are editing the<br />
video for me. This will be finished within the<br />
next few weeks and be handed out to<br />
hospitals, charities, organisations and<br />
patients, across the UK (hopefully) and used<br />
as a helpful resource for fellow pacemaker<br />
HANNAH PHILLIPS<br />
patients. It’s a way of showing that you’re<br />
never alone!<br />
Since having the pacemaker I have been<br />
feeling more myself, I waited a long time to<br />
have one implanted and so far I don’t regret it.<br />
Like any teenager, I have my ups and downs<br />
but over all I am happy with the result.<br />
Over the past year and a half I have been<br />
working closely with one of my mum’s friends<br />
and together we have created a one woman<br />
show, based around my life.<br />
‘Hannah's <strong>Heart</strong> Beat’ is a poignant multicharacter<br />
solo show based on Hannah's<br />
experiences while living with a rare congenital<br />
heart defect called Ebstein's anomaly. During<br />
the 40 minute show, we journey with Hannah<br />
and meet her mother, a proper South London<br />
nurse, an American wedding planner,<br />
insensitive classmate, a therapist and<br />
Hannah's idol Jessie J. Interspersed between<br />
these characters Hannah talks and sings<br />
about her life experiences, we meet a<br />
teenager who has integrity, a zest for living life<br />
and a quirky sense of humour.<br />
The ultimate aim of the show is to give people<br />
like me and not like me a different perspective<br />
of life. I want to be able to share my story and<br />
what matters to me with the young and old.<br />
The show was performed for the first time on<br />
the 18th February in front of close friends and<br />
family and is still a working progress, however,<br />
will never really be ‘complete’ as my life is<br />
forever changing. It was also performed on<br />
the 25th May at a festival and the 16th June as<br />
part of <strong>ECHO</strong>’s family fun day.<br />
The response I got on the 16th June was over<br />
whelming. I had so much fun performing at<br />
the event, in front of parents and the <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
teen group. It was an amazing experience<br />
and a huge opportunity given to me by <strong>ECHO</strong>,<br />
which I am very grateful for. The feedback and<br />
comments were very touching and a real eyeopener<br />
for me as I was unsure as to how<br />
people would react. Even so, I came away<br />
having had a lot of fun but feeling that I’d<br />
done some good and given a sense of ‘hope’<br />
to people at the same time. Thank you to<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> for taking that project on board and<br />
helping ‘Hannah’s <strong>Heart</strong> Beat’ grow that little<br />
bit extra.<br />
The show was performed on the 14th and 18th<br />
July at The <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s Hospital in the<br />
Medi-Cinema.<br />
You can keep up to date with my show by<br />
liking our page on Facebook, just search for:<br />
Hannah’s <strong>Heart</strong> Beat.<br />
What’s next for me? After college I am taking a<br />
gap year, I’m going to work at Disney land<br />
California for six months and when that’s over,<br />
I will be flying out to a third world country (still<br />
undecided as to where)for eight months with<br />
project trust, to volunteer in education and<br />
health care for children. I hope to gain new<br />
skills and experiences but not forgetting to<br />
have fun and explore the world whilst as<br />
much as I can. Depending on how that goes I<br />
will then either go University or into<br />
employment, however, that’s a little too far<br />
ahead to think about now. Ha-ha.<br />
Over the years I have learnt a great deal and<br />
feel I’ve really grown as a person. I believe<br />
that if you’re determined and work hard you<br />
can achieve what you want no illness should<br />
bully or stop you from doing what you want<br />
and love.<br />
There will be times were I feel like giving up or<br />
wishing it would all go away, everyone has<br />
those moments, of course we do (especially us<br />
teens) but overall living with my condition has<br />
given me such a different view of life and a<br />
zest for living it to the full! Looking back over<br />
the years, Ebstein’s Anomaly is something I<br />
wouldn’t change about myself.<br />
There are three sayings that I like to remember<br />
and try my best to go by, they are as follows:<br />
• Humour is just as important as<br />
medication and surgeries<br />
• “Be young, be foolish, but be happy”<br />
• “Just be true to who you are”<br />
I would love to hear from some of you, if you<br />
wanted to get to know me more, ask about<br />
the play and further updates regarding that or<br />
simply just wanted a chat, I would be more<br />
than happy to do so. Here is my E-mail;<br />
hannahlouloute@yahoo.co.uk I hope to hear<br />
from some of you soon, have a great summer,<br />
and enjoy it while you can.<br />
Hannah Phillips x<br />
Rachel Ward<br />
Joe Jackson and Lewis<br />
Hamilton!<br />
Saturday 16th<br />
June was the<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong><br />
conference<br />
and family<br />
day. For the<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> teen<br />
club, it<br />
was<br />
basically<br />
a fun<br />
day out<br />
but a good way to meet<br />
new people, make<br />
new<br />
friends<br />
and to<br />
learn more<br />
about how<br />
to cope with<br />
a heart<br />
condition in<br />
everyday life<br />
as a teen.<br />
We were put<br />
into groups and<br />
then started<br />
with some ‘ice-breaker’ games. Our<br />
group leader cut up a piece of fruit and<br />
then we had to put it back together with<br />
toothpicks – harder than it sounds… then<br />
Morgan Hawkins, aged 11, took part in The Grand Hotel<br />
Mini Mile Race and raised £120 for <strong>ECHO</strong>!<br />
His mum Tracy Hawkins said: "My son<br />
Morgan Hawkins participated in The Grand<br />
Hotel Mini Mile Race. At two weeks old he<br />
had to undergo corrective surgery, he was<br />
born with TAPV (Total Anomalous Pulmonary<br />
Venous Corrections). He is now a fit and<br />
healthy 11 year old. He wanted to do the<br />
race and collect<br />
sponsorship for <strong>ECHO</strong>,<br />
ETC MEMBER, RACHEL WARD, HAS WRITTEN THIS<br />
GREAT REPORT ABOUT THE FAMILY DAY<br />
we played a few rounds of hangman,<br />
and then we played a weird murder<br />
game, a really complicated version of<br />
wink murder, but really fun.<br />
During the day there was a girl called<br />
Hannah, a 17 year old who came in and<br />
performed some of her extracts from her<br />
show, ‘Hannah’s <strong>Heart</strong>beat’ She amazed<br />
everyone, including the parents with her<br />
confidence and talent, while teaching<br />
everyone there a lot. She was a lot easier<br />
to relate to because she was our age. It<br />
was really useful and boosted a lot of<br />
our confidences.<br />
After lunch, we went to Madame<br />
Tussaudes!! It was really fun! Especially<br />
because hardly any of us had been there<br />
before. We went round in small groups<br />
and we saw everyone! It was amazing!<br />
When we got back, some people went<br />
home and some people stayed for<br />
dinner. There was also a swimming pool<br />
that some people used. The whole day<br />
was really fun and really worth going! All<br />
the people were really nice and made<br />
the day more exciting.<br />
Rachel Ward<br />
A huge thank you goes to Merlin’s Magic Wand Charity who provided all<br />
the tickets for the wonderful trip to Madame Tussauds free of charge!<br />
as you had been a great help to us during<br />
his stay at Guy's and he reads all the <strong>ECHO</strong><br />
newsletters and also thinks you do a<br />
fantastic job. He managed to complete the<br />
race in 9:28 and we are all very proud of<br />
his achievement.<br />
We thank you all for all your hard work and<br />
the time that you give to so many parents<br />
and children when they most need it. "<br />
Nathan with David Cameron<br />
Thank you Tracy<br />
and thanks and<br />
well done to<br />
Morgan, what<br />
an amazing<br />
achievement!!<br />
Volunteer Olivia<br />
Morgan Hawkins<br />
If you are over 11 and haven’t already joined ETC (<strong>ECHO</strong> Teen Club) then don’t delay, you might be<br />
missing out! Email your name, date of birth, postal address, email address and mobile phone<br />
number to Emma at emma@echo-evelina.org.uk or text/call 07715 208077 for more info!<br />
22 <strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Evelina</strong> Children’s <strong>Heart</strong> Organisation 23<br />
<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
KEEP IN CONTACT<br />
Does <strong>ECHO</strong> have your email address?<br />
Send it to Jessica on admin@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
AREA CONTACTS<br />
AREA NAME TELEPHONE EMAIL<br />
North London/Herts Mandy Webster 0208 202 0713 north@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Diane de Naeyer 020 8441 3644 north.london.herts@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
East London/Essex Kerry Auger 01702 526 612 east.london.essex@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
South London Eleanor Beardsley 020 8690 6804 south.london@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Kent Vacant kent@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Sussex Nicki Morgan 01273 277 798 sussex@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Suffolk Angela May 07789 390 594 suffolk@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Surrey Kathy Turner 07792 349 780 surrey@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Norfolk Vacant norfolk@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Pre-natal Support via Admin Office 07715 208 177 prenatal@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Bereavement Support Cathie Shipton Please contact Emma for Cathie's contact details'<br />
THE <strong>ECHO</strong> COMMITTEE<br />
NAME TELEPHONE EMAIL<br />
DIRECTORS<br />
Juno Hollyhock Chair 07742 532 973 juno@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Richard Parsons Vice Chair 07976 839 303 richard@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Joanne Williams Treasurer 07752 504 021 treasurer@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Jane Ward Director Trustee 020 8655 0660 jane@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Rowan Alston Director Trustee 07824 350 188 rowan@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
STAFF<br />
Jo Wilson Chief Executive 07921 775 795 director@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Becky Kelway Membership Services Manager 07730 146 154 becky@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Emma Orpin Administration Assistant 07715 208 077 admin@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
COMMITTEE MEMBERS<br />
Ben Wilkie 07944 849 137 ben@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Dawn Matthews 07843 770 479 dawn@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
Nick de Naeyer 07889 570 784 nick@echo-evelina.org.uk<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> mobile 07715 208077<br />
Don’t forget to let us (and the hospital) know of any change in your contact details, i.e. address, phone number, e-mail address<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong> MEMBERSHIP FORM<br />
Edited by Jessica Cattermole | Designed by Stanislaus Design Please email kstanislausdesign@yahoo.co.uk<br />
Name of Child<br />
Child’s Date of Birth<br />
Parent(s) Name(s)<br />
Would you like to be put in contact with other families in your local area? Yes No <br />
To join <strong>ECHO</strong>, please complete the form<br />
and return to Emma Orpin at:<br />
<strong>ECHO</strong><br />
PO Box 597, Chatham ME4 9DS<br />
Membership of <strong>ECHO</strong> is free, but if you<br />
would like to make a donation, however<br />
small, it would be gratefully received.<br />
Address<br />
Telephone<br />
Child’s condition<br />
Has he/she had surgery? Please give details<br />
Postcode<br />
Email address<br />
In accordance with the 1998 data protection act, we will hold your details for membership communication purposes and to provide you with correspondence, invitations and<br />
appeals. If you do not wish to receive these please contact admin@echo-evelina.org.uk. None of these details will ever be passed on to a third party.