Once upon a time, not so very long ago........

Little Leon was born with a poorly heart. This made his Mummy and Daddy sad and they decided to search for a special friend who would keep Little Leon company and look after him while he was in hospital.............

The Adventure begins..............

Sunday 30 October 2011

Little Leon has a spooky adventure.....

Today Little Leon had a spooky adventure at Cannon Hall farm.

He got up early and spruced himself up, Daddy gave him a bath and Mummy gave him a fabulous Halloween outfit.  A spider......  Daddy doesn't like spiders very much, but he loves Little Leon because he doesn't look too scary!

Do I look scary in this?
Off he set for Cannon Hall to meet Rachel, Johnathan and Betsy, Betsy dressed as a scary skeleton!  Little Leon wondered if she likes spiders!   http://www.cannonhallfarm.co.uk/

its very serious being a spider!
So there they all were at the farm, Betsys Daddy took her to see some little animals, Little Leon wasnt so sure, they didnt look like Tiggur the cat!  He saw some cows, sheep, goats and a Lama....... Mummy said you can make jumpers out of Lama wool.... Oh dear, Gramma will be knitting again....

Woo, Skeletons like spiders!
The skeleton and the spider had fun looking at the animals, not so sure about how they smell though.... Then the Daddys got a pumkin each, as it is Halloween soon, they need to be carved and lit very quickly!   Betsys Mummy suggested a cuppa, and Little Leons Mummy, not one for turning down cake, said she thought it was a fine idea.....

Did someone mention cake.....?
Little Leon took off his spider suit and had his lunch, Betsy tucked into a very healthy banana! Then he had some cake and shared some beer mats with Betsy.... Thats what Daddy calls rice cakes!!!!

Ha Ha Mummy, I can turn back into a spider anytime....
After cake and coffe, bananas and beer mats, it was time to say goodbye for now, The scary little Skeleton was taking her Mummy and Daddy to Grammas for dinner, Little Leon was going to have a power nap in the car on the way home and call in and see his Gramma, for cuddles and rolling around on the carpet.

Bye bye Skeleton laydee, bye bye Spidey....
And so the adventure had to end for today. The little skeleton went home, and the little spider went back to his pillow nest, or web! Both looking forward to more fun and shenanigans next time with the Mummies and Daddies!

Photographs kindly taken by Johnathan and Rachel Atkins.
Little Leon forgot to say that Betsys Daddy has a fabulous web page, well worth a look at!  http://pleasepaymymortgage.com/ 

Friday 28 October 2011

Little Leon Lionheart...


Leon

We called him Leon the Lionheart,
Its almost as if we had known,
That while he was inside Mummy s tummy,
His little heart had not grown.

December came and went in a blur,
And so it was 'till June,
That life raced on without us,
So round and round we went.

Our family and friends gathered around,
Giving strength and support,
when we were running out,
But if we lost our little heart it would all have been for nought.

Little Leon Lionheart battled on and in June got the gift of life,
Mr Watterson and his merry band, 
hand crafted Leons heart,
With smiles and laughter now restored.

We wondered what came next...
Little Leon Lionheart rolling on the floor,
Little Leon Lionheart heading for the door!
Little Leon Lionheart getting stronger every day.

We say our thank yous all the time for our extraordinary little boy,
Who has brought such light and love into our hearts,
Our friends and family all rejoice,
For  Little Leon Lionheart!


Thursday 20 October 2011

Little Leon has a CT scan.....




Hello Everyone,

Yesterday Little Leon went for a CT scan at Leeds General Infirmary, Ward 10, where his laydees work.  They were very very pleased to see him, he thinks seeing how big he has grown and how well he is makes them feel that even on bad days they do an amazing job, not just with the little heart babies, but looking after the little heart parents and grandparents as well.


The team
Some of the Gang at LGI who help Little Leon and his friends


It was a very long day, Mummy and Daddy had to get Leon up early because he was nil by mouth from 7am!  then, Daddy went to work and Leon had a bath and splashed Mummy so they both had to get changed!   Then, a ride in his Volvo chariot to collect Daddy and get to the hospital.

Everyone was happy so see Little Leon, they are happy to see all the heart babies on ward 10! Sadly it took seven attempts to get the canula into Leon for the contrast dye, Emma the play therapist brought lovely toys but he sobbed and sobbed, it must have hurt very much because he had real big tears.  So eventually the lovely Dr Emma had a try and magically first time got it in and sorted.  Leon calmed down when she gently wrapped a bandage around his foot to keep it in place and then his lovely nursey gave him some sedative, Little Leon was going to carry on playing, but he fell fast asleepi.


Thomas wraps paws up for the cold

The scan is to look at the Left Pulmonary artery, which looked originally like a squashed straw, The Doctors were hoping that the operation would stimulate it to grow, but they are not sure yet and need detailed pictures to find out. If it hasnt grown he might need some more interventions.

When Little Leon came round after a very long THREE hour sleepi, he was a bit giddy and couldnt sit still, Mummy said it was like holding a jelly worm that was wiggling and wiggling!  He drank a huge bottle of milky and had some dinner, which seemed to help a little bit.



Now if i could just control my body..

Thunk...... sigh......

Little Leon is sending a big HUG and Hello to Arron and his family, he had his operation two weeks ago and is looking fabulous, not only that as they passed the ward, Mummy spied a Noel look a like!  Arron has Noels brother staying with him, he is called Aussie!  It was lovely to talk to Arrons family, they read Little Leons blog and said that its nice to know they are not the only ones going through the stresses of having a little heart baby.  Like Little Leons family they wouldnt swap him either!

April was there with Olivia who had six teeth out! Little Leon is amazed, he has only two at the moment and wants to hang on to those!! He sends big Hugs to her as well and says, tell your Mummy to make you some ice pops, they are soothing for sore gums!

Noels friends moved onto ward 10 and 4!
Mummy, Daddy and Little Leon took two of Noels friends to live on ward 10 and 4, they are there to give the staff and other Mummys and Daddys hugs while little heart babies are having surgery!  Yey!

Emotionally it was a hard day so Mummy went to bed before Leon because she couldnt stand up very well with her poorly head, Leon stayed downstairs for a bit longer to play with Daddy, becasue Daddy looked like he needed to play before bedtime!

More adventures very soon

Love from Little Leon xxx

Monday 10 October 2011

Harry Mosley a bright and shiney star!

Little Leon was very sad to hear of the passing of Harry Mosley who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 2007, very sadly, at the age of 11 he slipped into a coma in August and Saturday night passed away in the arms of his very loving family.

Harry homepage image

While he was in hospital for treatment he met a fellow patient, Robert who was very sad, Harry made him a bracelet to cheer him up and a fundraising idea was born.  Harry raised over £85,000 for Brain Cancer research, by speaking at events, raising awareness and making his very lovely bracelets.

Although Harry is no longer with us, he has left us with a very special gift and is alive in the memory of everyone whose life he has touched. Kind thougts and wishes go to his family and friends at this very sad time. 


Help Harry Help Others
Lets Smile for Harry and Celebrate his life!

If you would like to Help Harry Help others by making a donation please go to: http://www.helpharryhelpothers.com/get-involved/

Lots of love from Little Leon and Mummy and Daddy xxx