Fundraising for Birmingham Children's Hospital as thanks for saving our son's life
On 3 June, our 5-year-old son was diagnosed with a large brain tumour after three months of worsening symptoms and being told constantly by the doctors the symptoms were due to anxiety due to the arrival of his baby brother.
Symptoms included ongoing headaches, panic attacks, behavioural changes, poor sleep and weakened muscles and coordination. The symptoms were caused by the tumour but also a build up of fluid on his brain due to the tumour blocking the flow of fluid to the brain stem (hydrocephalus).
On the day of diagnosis, we were sent via blue light ambulance from our local hospital in Telford, over to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
The next morning he was in for a 12 hour surgery to remove the tumour and 10 days later we were given the news that the tumour was low grade and non cancerous (polycytic astrocytoma). Thankfully they were able to remove the tumour due to it's location.
We spent two and a half weeks in hospital and have been home for four weeks where our son continues his rehabilitation. He has had to learn everything from scratch again such as walking, eating and writing. He will also have regular MRI scans over the next five years and other ongoing care from Birmingham.
We’re extremely grateful for the incredible staff and support of the hospital who saved Ethan’s life. It’s been a hard 6 weeks but we feel incredibly lucky that the tumour was caught in time. We're now focussing on Ethan's healing and recovery which can take around 6 months.
We've set a goal to fundraise £5k for Birmingham Children’s Hospital in the next 12 months. Amy also plans to donate profits from her business on an ongoing basis when she returns from maternity leave.
During our time in hospital, we met other families who are still in the trenches of treatment and recovery. We really hope these donations go on to help them and any other children who need the support of the hospital in future.
If you can help by donating or sharing it really would mean the world - gofundme.com/f/ethan-brain-tumour-birmingham-childrens
Thank you for your support!
Amy & Adam
