Many of you will know our little girl Lottie Luds has just come home in time for Christmas after a 4 week stint in the Sheffield Children’s hospital. Since March this year we have been back and forth to the GPs and hospital with her. After multiple trips, two referrals from the GP for failure to thrive and a diagnosis of chronic constipation in August - she seemed to be ok but symptoms were still lingering.

She became really unwell mid October, she stopped walking, stopped playing, laughing, interacting and was just pretty miserable. She had chronic sickness and diarrhoea, a huge distended tummy and lost so much weight. She just wanted to sleep all the time, her body was literally in a state of crisis. On the 9th November we took her to A&E again where she underwent more tests and an X-ray and ultrasound on her abdomen. That night we were taken into a room by consultants and our world came crashing down when we were told that Lottie had a mass in her abdomen. We were put straight on the oncology ward at the children’s where she would be looked after whilst they did further scans/tests. She went to theatre the following morning and was put under for an MRI to gain a clearer picture of the tumour and also had an NG tube fitted so she could receive medicine and food straight into her stomach. She would then need a biopsy on the mass to determine which type of tumour we were dealing with. We discussed next steps like how she would have a line fitted straight into her main vein to receive chemo and was briefed with what type of tumour our consultant suspected it was. As any parent would be, we were praying and praying this would not be life threatening and hoping this could be treated early.

Miraculously our prayers were answered at the hands of a mistake made. After the worst 5 days of our lives we were told that the ‘mass’ they had seen in Lottie’s abdomen wasn’t there as before - there was nothing for them to do a biopsy on! A collapsed bowel can present in the same way as a mass on an ultrasound and in Lottie’s case this is what had happened. This was better than the best possible outcome we had allowed ourselves to imagine and felt like nothing short of a miracle! Nothing can prepare you for thinking that your child has cancer and I don’t think we will ever get over the trauma of those first agonising few days.

But our little girl still wasn’t well and we didn’t know why. We remained on oncology for 9 days and were then transferred to Ward 3 which is a generalised medical ward. After further scans, blood tests, an endoscopy and colonoscopy, biopsies - Lottie was finally diagnosed with Coeliac disease. Every doctor that we saw said that it’s so rare to see such a severe case in a child as young as Lottie. Her gut was damaged so much from the gluten that it couldn’t absorb any nutrients at all leaving her so malnourished. It had also diminished her white blood cells so Lottie has been neutropenic which means she is unable to fight infections like she normally would. This autoimmune disease had literally pushed our baby to her absolute limits and we were prepared that she would have a long road to recovery ahead of her.

Our eyes were opened to so many different things during our hospital stay. The heartache of thinking your child has cancer is incomparable, there is no other pain like the thought of your child suffering or contemplating losing them. But every staff member at the hospital are real life angels and make everything that bit more bearable. From the Doctors, Nurses, Support workers to the Cleaners, Cooks, Play specialists, Charity workers and so many others. We only saw a fraction of what goes on, but the strength of the children and families going through the worst is so admirable. Despite the obvious care and compassion for the children and families, everything possible is done by staff to make the hospital a fun, happy and less scary place. They aren’t just doing their jobs, they genuinely care so much.

Now we are home Lottie has really turned a corner and it is quite unbelievable for all that see her. She’s put loads of weight back on, playing all day long and avoiding sleep, she never shuts up and has got her funny ways back! She started walking again and is now chasing her brother up and down the stairs (without permission!) Our bright little girl is back and is cheekier than ever. Seeing her happy again is everything. For now we need to focus on building her back up and getting her to eat properly again - gluten free and also dairy free for now just while her gut heals. We can see the light now and a bright future for our brave girl. ❤️‍🩹

Me and Em are running the Sheffield half marathon in April to raise money for the Children’s Hospital charity. We are incredibly lucky to have this on our doorstep and we met families from all over that had to travel hours to be there and receive the specialist care/treatment our hospital provides. They are amazing and we want to show our appreciation and support for everything they do for our children and their families. Any gift/donation towards our fundraiser and this charity would mean the world to us, big or small and doesn’t have to be right now, we have 4 months. Thank you for reading and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all and yours ❤️