Roxanne Hill
Roxanne's page
Fundraising for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity
Story
Most of you will already know the journey Alfie has been on over the past 5years, however, for those who don’t please read below to see how proud we all are of him and why we continue to raise money for BCH.
In May 2017 I took Alfie to Worcester A&E thinking that he had concussion after bumping his head. Initial checks showed that things weren’t quite right so doctors requested an MRI to be done just to double check. We were initially told that we wouldn’t get the results until later that evening as they take a while to be looked at by the doctor (it was very busy!!) An hour after the MRI Scan, Alfie was moved onto the children’s ward and we were taken into a separate room and told that the symptoms were actually being caused by a Brain Tumour. Our whole world felt like it shattered. At this point no one knew what type of tumour it was, what treatment was needed if any and the only question we could think of was ‘is he going to survive?’ All we knew was that he was going to be taken to BCH within the hour by ambulance. We were shown his scan pictures when we arrived at BCH and told that he would be having surgery the next morning. After this point, I can’t remember much else of that day, other than being told to get family to come to the hospital to see alfie ‘just incase the worst happens’… 9am on Friday 26th May 2017, we kissed our little boy as he went down for 8hour brain surgery.
Surgery was a success in the sense of he had a miracle recovery. He was talking on the same night whilst we fed him in bed. The next day he was able to sit up and by the Monday managed to get out of bed (with help of course!) and sit on the chair for a cuddle. We had to wait a week for the results and then we were told that Alfie’s tumour was a Pilocytic Astrocytoma.... meaning it was Benign!!
We honestly can’t tell you how lucky we know we are.
Following his discharge from Ward 10, Alfie had regular MRI’s and appointments at BCH to monitor the residual tumour for any changes. Then in January 2019 we were told that the latest MRI had shown a slight growth. As it was only a small amount, it meant that we could continue to monitor for now and hope that nothing else changed, there was still the chance that nothing further would need to be done.
Unfortunately, Alfie’s scan 6 months later showed even further growth, still only slight, but Alfie’s Doctors and surgeons decided that it would be best to operate and remove now rather than letting it continue to grow.
On Thursday 19th September 2019, Alfie was once again admitted to Ward 10 at BCH and doctors and surgeons explained the plan for surgery the next day. For me, the operation this time round was so much scarier. I think it was because I didn’t think it was possible for him to have another amazing recovery. Once again, at 9:00am we kissed our brave little boy as he went down for surgery. 5pm came and we were told by the surgeon that everything went well and he was just going for his MRI to confirm they had managed to remove all of the residual tumour. 5:40pm, we were told they were taking him back to theatre because there was a small section remaining. This felt crushing. We were an hour away from being able to hug Alfie and then in split second it was happening all over again.
At 9pm, Dr Solanki came and told us that he was in recovery. 12 extremely long and exhausting hours, but he was ok!
Alfie had another amazing recovery, he surprises us every single day and he truly is the bravest boy old I know (along with his amazing big brother!)
Everyone at BCH, to us, can only be described as.... INCREDIBLE. From keeping us calm, making sure we understand, listening to us when we don’t, making us feel safe, making the worst time in our lives that little bit easier. Thank you. Alfie’s surgeons, doctors, nurses and health care assistants.... we will forever be in debt to you.
To Ward 10 - you will always have a special place in our hearts. To everyone we met this time round - thank you for everything, not just for looking after Alfie, but for looking after us as well. The Nurses that looked after Alfie in 2017 and then still remembered him in 2019 (how could you forget him though!)... Thank you, you have had so many children on that ward since Alfie was first there and you still remembered us like it had been a week!
Alfie will be under the care of BCH for at least the next 5 years. As a family we will continue to fundraise for them, even though it will never be enough to fully repay them.
We also found out in November 2020 that Alfie’s surgery in 2019 was a success and he is now TUMOUR FREE!!!
Thank you for any donation you can afford to give.
At Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, we believe there’s always more we can do for our sick kids and that’s why we will always strive to do more for our patients and families. It’s our mission to raise the vital funds needed to make a real difference to all who use our hospital.Your support empowers us to take innovative approaches to treating some of the sickest children in the UK. Your fundraising enables us to make our hospital feel just like home. Your donations are helping us to find new ways to treat and cure childhood diseases
In May 2017 I took Alfie to Worcester A&E thinking that he had concussion after bumping his head. Initial checks showed that things weren’t quite right so doctors requested an MRI to be done just to double check. We were initially told that we wouldn’t get the results until later that evening as they take a while to be looked at by the doctor (it was very busy!!) An hour after the MRI Scan, Alfie was moved onto the children’s ward and we were taken into a separate room and told that the symptoms were actually being caused by a Brain Tumour. Our whole world felt like it shattered. At this point no one knew what type of tumour it was, what treatment was needed if any and the only question we could think of was ‘is he going to survive?’ All we knew was that he was going to be taken to BCH within the hour by ambulance. We were shown his scan pictures when we arrived at BCH and told that he would be having surgery the next morning. After this point, I can’t remember much else of that day, other than being told to get family to come to the hospital to see alfie ‘just incase the worst happens’… 9am on Friday 26th May 2017, we kissed our little boy as he went down for 8hour brain surgery.
Surgery was a success in the sense of he had a miracle recovery. He was talking on the same night whilst we fed him in bed. The next day he was able to sit up and by the Monday managed to get out of bed (with help of course!) and sit on the chair for a cuddle. We had to wait a week for the results and then we were told that Alfie’s tumour was a Pilocytic Astrocytoma.... meaning it was Benign!!
We honestly can’t tell you how lucky we know we are.
Following his discharge from Ward 10, Alfie had regular MRI’s and appointments at BCH to monitor the residual tumour for any changes. Then in January 2019 we were told that the latest MRI had shown a slight growth. As it was only a small amount, it meant that we could continue to monitor for now and hope that nothing else changed, there was still the chance that nothing further would need to be done.
Unfortunately, Alfie’s scan 6 months later showed even further growth, still only slight, but Alfie’s Doctors and surgeons decided that it would be best to operate and remove now rather than letting it continue to grow.
On Thursday 19th September 2019, Alfie was once again admitted to Ward 10 at BCH and doctors and surgeons explained the plan for surgery the next day. For me, the operation this time round was so much scarier. I think it was because I didn’t think it was possible for him to have another amazing recovery. Once again, at 9:00am we kissed our brave little boy as he went down for surgery. 5pm came and we were told by the surgeon that everything went well and he was just going for his MRI to confirm they had managed to remove all of the residual tumour. 5:40pm, we were told they were taking him back to theatre because there was a small section remaining. This felt crushing. We were an hour away from being able to hug Alfie and then in split second it was happening all over again.
At 9pm, Dr Solanki came and told us that he was in recovery. 12 extremely long and exhausting hours, but he was ok!
Alfie had another amazing recovery, he surprises us every single day and he truly is the bravest boy old I know (along with his amazing big brother!)
Everyone at BCH, to us, can only be described as.... INCREDIBLE. From keeping us calm, making sure we understand, listening to us when we don’t, making us feel safe, making the worst time in our lives that little bit easier. Thank you. Alfie’s surgeons, doctors, nurses and health care assistants.... we will forever be in debt to you.
To Ward 10 - you will always have a special place in our hearts. To everyone we met this time round - thank you for everything, not just for looking after Alfie, but for looking after us as well. The Nurses that looked after Alfie in 2017 and then still remembered him in 2019 (how could you forget him though!)... Thank you, you have had so many children on that ward since Alfie was first there and you still remembered us like it had been a week!
Alfie will be under the care of BCH for at least the next 5 years. As a family we will continue to fundraise for them, even though it will never be enough to fully repay them.
We also found out in November 2020 that Alfie’s surgery in 2019 was a success and he is now TUMOUR FREE!!!
Thank you for any donation you can afford to give.
At Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, we believe there’s always more we can do for our sick kids and that’s why we will always strive to do more for our patients and families. It’s our mission to raise the vital funds needed to make a real difference to all who use our hospital.Your support empowers us to take innovative approaches to treating some of the sickest children in the UK. Your fundraising enables us to make our hospital feel just like home. Your donations are helping us to find new ways to treat and cure childhood diseases
