Teresa's Story

The 7th April 2010 was a day we will never forget when our lives changed forever.  This was the day that our 14 year old daughter was taken to hospital with suspected leukaemia. Our GP had picked up the signs and sent Sophie for further tests, which confirmed that our precious only daughter had this life threatening  disease.

I can’t begin to put into words what we were feeling, but whatever we were feeling , Sophie was feeling a million times worse - after all this was about her. Sophie  was very frightened  and felt insecure, which we as her parents could  do nothing about,  because at this moment we had lost control, Our lives were shattered and nothing else mattered any more. The days after the diagnosis are a blur and still I can’t remember lots of things that went on, although I do remember that I kept telling myself that I had to keep focused and ask lots of questions because we  couldn’t let our daughter down.

Two weeks after we were  first  told that Sophie had leukaemia and when we already thought we were facing our worst  nightmare, another piece of news was broken to us that gave a further shock. Sophie has a rare type of leukaemia and the treatment that she would have to undergo would be very intense. We were told that a bone marrow transplant was now her only chance to beat this disease.  A couple of days later treatment started and our precious daughter was about to be given chemotherapy.   She had only ever been given paracetomol, but now I was going to allow her to be exposed to these highly toxic drugs.  But what choice did we have?

Sophie at this point coped better  than we did and this made us stronger.  She faced months of chemotherapy and we waited for news of an unrelated donor to be found. After approximately 8weeks, we were given the news that a donor had been found, who was a good match. The news gave me the feeling  that someone had released a tightness in my chest that had ached for months. We still had a long way to go, but it was a positive that we had to take forward and hold on to.

During Sophie’s treatment we were introduced to Momentum. Their Co-founder, Bianca, introduced herself to us on one of our early visits and offered their support for Sophie and us as a family.  At this point we never realised how much of a difference this charity would make to our lives!   Their commitment to us and kindness is something that we will remember forever.  Momentum has been with us, sharing a very rocky journey and is still supporting us on our road to recovery.  The charity has given Sophie many special things, not just gifts, but support that has helped her start to feel good about herself again.  The charity has given her the encouragement to keep in touch with her friends, which has been so important for Sophie’s recovery and at the same time has allowed her to do this at her own pace.

Some of the gifts that Sophie has received from Momentum have come with a memory.  The Mamma Mia! show helped her find confidence to socialise with a group of friends and Momentum made this an extra special outing, with lunch at Planet Hollywood and a limousine ride.  This was a day which Sophie has often revisited in her mind, especially when the treatment has been hard (at times almost unbearable). Momentum also gave our family the opportunity to stay in their holiday home, just before Sophie’s transplant.  The home is well equipped for a break with a sick child   and without this facility, even a short break for us would have been out of the question. The benefit s Sophie got from the break was very uplifting and just what she needed.

Bianca has also encouraged Sophie to keep  her social network  going, giving her a sense of  still being part of that network and not being left  behind.  The charity sent cards and messages  of support  to help Sophie to keep a sense of humour and to keep her focused during  treatment  and the transplant, especially when  Sophie had to spend long  periods  in hospital, isolated from the outside world.

After an inspiratonal fight to beat her cancer, Sophie Bone died on 13th April 2011.