George

Below is an email that we received from George’s mum Nadine.

Our son George has been on a long journey and I have tried to tell a brief story of what has been nearly 3 years of his life.

4 year old George was a happy little boy playing with his brother when we first noticed that he looked different to his brother, his complexion was much yellower and at first we all ignored it thinking it was our eyesight.
After a week or so it was very noticeable that things were not as they should be and this was really the start of his journey.

We took him to our local GP thinking he would issue us with some medicine and off we’d go, instead we ended up in the local hospital for a few weeks until we were taken by ambulance up to Kings in London where he spent another 6 weeks.
He was diagnosed with hepatitis but no cause was known. We came home and George had a short stay at the Evalina in London before being allowed to go to school. He did 6 half days and he had a fall in the playground and after the bruise spread down his face we were once again admitted back into the local hospital. He endured constant blood tests, bone marrow asperates and blood and platelet transfusions on a weekly basis.

It took a further 6 months before he was diagnosed with very severe aplastic anaemia and now a bone marrow transplant was his only option. His health by now had deteriorated and time was of the essence. We were lucky and Great Ormond Street managed to find a donor and after chemotherapy treatment he received his bone marrow transplant (May 2011).

George has done extremely well since receiving his transplant and we are so grateful and happy at last to have the beginnings of a normal family life. He has just started back at school after missing nearly 2 years and he takes everything in his stride always with a smile.

We don’t know what is around the corner for George but right now things are good and that is all we ask, health and happiness.

We would like to say a huge thank you to CWCF as they have helped boost morale when times were tough and have given a boost not just to George but to his brother who has had to stand by and watch everything that goes on and it wasn’t always easy for him either.

Thank you all.