Ellie's journey

Our daughter Ellie was diagnosed with heptoblastoma, a form of liver cancer, when she was just 12 weeks old at St James Hospital in May 2005. She was transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital where she began four months of intensive chemotherapy. During this time we were lucky enough to stay at The Sick Childrens Trust’s ‘Home from Home’ in Sheffield, Treetop House. This was a huge relief as it meant that during her treatment I was able to be at the hospital 24/7 but also meant I had somewhere to come back to after a long day on the ward and have meals and a good nights sleep. Also, when Ellie was taking a break from the chemotherapy treatment she was able to come to the house and be surrounded by a normal environment with comfy sofas and beds, a play room, other families – something that resembled a real homely place which was as a new mum, something I missed immensely – spending time with my baby in a ‘normal’ environment. At seven months old Ellie was transferred back to Leeds to be given a liver transplant at St James’ Hospital in Leeds where once again The Sick Children’s Trust supported my family with a room at its Leeds ‘Home from Home’, Eckersley House. This was so helpful for us as a family as our home is in Rotherham and quite some way away from the hospital. There we spent another three months. I can’t imagine the financial implications we would have faced with the charity’s support. Seven months is such a long time to be away from home but staying with The Sick Child took a lot of the weight off our shoulders financially and emotionally. The most important thing to myself and my husband Antony during this experience was Ellie’s wellbeing and the charity gave us the gift of being able to spend time with her which was all we needed. Once Ellie was allowed off the ward we were moved into The Sick Children’s Trust’s flat so we could learn how to take care of her before eventually moving home. This was wonderful as we had the reassurance of the hospital if we needed it knowing it was right by Eckersley House but also the security the flat gave us. During the seven months we spent away from home we were so grateful to The Sick Children’s Trust to providing us with accommodation in their ‘Homes from Home’ as this let us be together as a family at a very distressing time and without it, it would have been an extremely hard situation to be in. It is now seven years later and Ellie is doing much better, looking at her you wouldn’t believe this little girl went through so much at the start of her life. I will be forever grateful for The Sick Children’s Trust for their support, without these houses families wouldn’t be able to stay together and would have to travel long distances at such hard times. Tracy Greenwood, Ellie’s mum