Beckie knows how tough it is to spend Christmas in hospital with a poorly child, especially when there’s another child at home. So now her daughter Eleri has had her liver transplant, the family always makes the most of all the festive fun!
Since Eleri had her transplant in February 2023, she has been, in the main, really well. We had a few hospital stays in the first six months post–transplant for various reasons, and she needed an adenotonsillectomy in the first year too. She has issues with EBV and CMV which mean she still needs bloods every 2 – 4 weeks which is difficult, but she is amazing, never complains and none of it seems to faze her. You’d never know she had anything going on, she is full of energy, it’s really inspiring. She’s even good when it comes to taking her medicine. We involve her in all of it so she’s very aware of its importance and helps us to make it up herself a lot of the time!
The team at Birmingham keep a very close eye on her. Her six–monthly appointments with her consultant often take place at Cardiff, which makes life a bit easier for us. And our local paediatric team also see us in between, so we have a lot of support.
Happily, life is now not all about hospital appointments. Eleri is now in reception class at school and, as her teacher puts it ‘she’s a force’, she knows her own mind, and is really thriving. I can confidently say that Eleri is the most strong-willed person I’ve ever met! She loves being outdoors, running or riding her bike, music and ballet, and making huge mess painting and crafting.
Of course, Eleri’s liver condition and frequent hospital trips had a real impact on her brother Harri, who is now six and they are the best of friends! He still wants to take care of her and be at as many appointments and blood tests as possible to hold her hand. We can see he worries about her but now he’s a little older, we’re able to talk him through everything. We have a lot of deep and meaningful chats which help him process everything as it has been so much for him. But he really is the best big brother. We’ve been able to start taking him go karting now, with Eleri never far behind him as his mechanic. It’s lovely to be able to do something that brings him so much joy without worrying that we might have to cancel at the last minute.
Having been so restricted for the first couple of years of Eleri’s life, Andrew and I now make the most of everything. It was a dream of ours when we were in hospital to be able to take them both to Disneyland Paris, and we were able to do that earlier this year! We also went to Camp Bestival this summer with some friends, which was a brilliant experience for all of us. We go to our local Junior Parkrun on a Sunday, attend lots of shows, sports events and days out, and have had some lovely family holidays.
This Christmas they’ve met Santa at Lapland UK, another thing we hoped we would be able to take them to, especially when we had our Christmas in hospital. We want Eleri to have all the experiences possible and live life to the full, and she definitely does that!
