C/O 135 Seven Oaks Drive,
Thornton Cleveleys,
Lancashire,
FY5 3BU
United Kingdom


NB: this is a forwarding address for the Pal, we do NOT disclose home addresses

Email Pal

Poppy H's Parents/Guardians

Kimberley

Poppy H's Siblings

Coral 15/01/2008 likes Bob the Builder, Barney, Peppa Pig, Fifi, dolls, babies, Disney Princess, making things and animals! Oliver who passed away just before he was 5.

Poppy H's Interests

Postman Pat (huge fan), Peppa Pig, Balamory, Fifi, Disney Princess, Minnie Mouse (her favourite!), puzzles (does 30-40 pieces!), all things pink, games, loves handbags and hats.

Poppy H's Favourite Colour

Pink

Is Poppy H able to read?

No

Is Poppy H able to use hands?

Yes

Is Poppy H visually/hearing impaired?

No

Does Poppy H suffer from any developmental delay?

No

Story written 2010

Poppy is a loving, smiling, happy little girl. She was born at 28 weeks and from birth she had inflammation of her bowel and started treatment for it at 3months old. She was initially ng tube fed, then nj tube fed by 6 months, and her first operation was at 9 months old when she weighed just 8lb.

Over time, more and more things became apparent with Poppy. She had pseudo obstruction from 7months old, hypoglycaemia caused by a rare condition called growth hormone resistance, and poppy has delayed gross motor skills and couldn’t sit until 18 months and didn’t walk until 2 and half years old. She used a walking frame and has special boots and orthotics. She also has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome too.

Poppy has been tpn dependant since January 2010 and has suffered many line sepsis since November 2009, with 4 bouts of pneumonia, cellulitis, and with multiple bugs in her blood stream at one time. Her inflammation has got much worse along with the pseudo, and on many occasions we have nearly lost Poppy as she has been so ill. Somehow her little body fought hard and she is still battling on and always with a smile!

Poppy’s intestines are really struggling this past year and even though she's on TPN she’s still not gaining weight or growing. She has a MRI booked for the 26th July 2010 of her bowel. In May she was put forward for small bowel transplant, but she is not a candidate as yet… so her battle continues and we can carry on giving her the best life we can when we're not in hospital.

Keep up to date on Poppy’s caring bridge http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/thelifeofpoppy

Update 13th August 2010

Poppy is currently in our local hospital in Blackpool with a line sepsis. Consultants are all very worried as her immune system is very poor at the moment and she's not responding as she should. Her body’s not responding outwardly with the infection which is worse, so we’re hoping these new antibiotics kick in and that she improves.

Thank you all so much for your post as it really does cheer her up!

Update 29th June 2010

Poppy is home at last after 7 months in GOSH on TPN. She's doing ok at home, but still having a lot of pain, her bowels are not good, and she is still losing weight despite being on TPN. She is pretty worn out, bless her, but very happy to be home. The bowel MRI is on 26th July at GOSH.

Thank you for Poppy’s cards this month. Viks sent a lovely hand made one, Emma Stone, lovely cards from the USA too. Poppy and Coral are very lucky girls! Also, thank you so much Post Pals as the girls had a huge parcel and loved their chair! They coloured the bean bag dogs in straight away too. Granny Ruth sent Poppy a Charlie and Lola magazine which she loves, she’s really into her magazines and books! Thank you to Louise for the Peppa Pig bags, Poppy now carries her feed pump in her one! Thank you to Alison L… she's great! Thanks to Steph, Poppy loves her pink poodle. To everyone else who has sent post… thank you!

Post Pals is brill and has brought a new life to Poppy! She’s not really got any friends because she’s too poorly for nursery and is always in hospital, but now she has lots of friends who send her post and it has really brought a huge smile to her face when the postman knocks! So thank you!

Update 15th June 2010

The girls got their Post Pals parcel today and it was very unexpected! Thank you! They were so excited… giggling like mad! Apparently it’s a magic chair… it walks! The wind blew it along in the garden and they were wetting themselves with laughter! Brill! Definitely a much needed smile as Pops has been in a lot of pain again today. Thank you!

Update 7th June 2010

Hey all! We are home! Poppy is all connected to the TPN too.

Thank you all so much for the post you've sent Poppy and Coral! They just love receiving it. We had just arrived home tonight after a long journey (screaming, tired, bored, sore etc) and Poppy was grumpy and in pain… but it soon livened her up to come home to post!! We've decided to keep a notebook of addresses starting from now on so Poppy can write back, as she's in bed early now at home because of the TPN and it'll give her something to do. She's had so much post it is hard to keep up!! Loads of love and thanks! You’re amazing people!!

Update 21st May 2010

Well Pops is definitely on the mend; our doctor just said she's a very lucky little girl to pull through. She was very very sick - 10 days she was fighting it and she's very worn out. I feel so relived an grateful she's still here! Nothing will stop me smiling! Now it’s just a long recovery.

Update 20th May 2010

Yet another bad night. PICU doctors wanted to do a CT scan over night as her head is swollen and morphine’s not touching the pain in her head and she can't move. They reduced all her fluids because she's so swollen, bless her. Just waiting for doctors now to see what's next. MRI and echo and possibly CT scan needs doing. Poor little thing. We're waiting on big news today for her. I will update when I know anything. I'm so tired it’s unbelievable! Little improvement today, but don't want to count my chickens as when ever we have a sigh of relief that maybe she's turning a corner, it goes wrong again.