C/O 10 Whysall Road
Long Eaton
Nottingham
NG10 3QZ
United Kingdom

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

Email Pal

Hanna B's Parents/Guardians

Fiona

Hanna B's Siblings

Lotty 26/3/2008 likes In the Night Garden, Peppa Pig, Winnie the Pooh, books, pinching her sisters Nintendo DS!

Hanna B's Interests

Reading, dancing, gymnastics, Brownies, playing on the DS Lite and loves Hello Kitty and Eeyore.

Hanna B's Favourite Colour

Blue and purple

Is Hanna B able to read?

Yes

Is Hanna B able to use hands?

Yes

Is Hanna B visually/hearing impaired?

No

Does Hanna B suffer from any developmental delay?

No

Story written 2009

Hanna was born with a condition called VACTERL. All the letters stand for something that is associated with the diagnosis.

We were not aware that Hanna had the condition before she was born so it was a big shock to us.

The midwife gave Hanna her first bottle but she choked and turned blue so the resuscitation team were called. Immediate investigation found that Hannas’ oesophagus coming from her stomach was joined to her trachea and her oesophagus from her throat was a blind end. This is called tracheal oesophagus fistula and oesophageal atresia -TOF/OE - the T and E (American spelling).

At sixteen hours old she had to have a life saving operation to join the oesophagus back up which was thankfully successful (although reflux is severe).

Subsequent investigations found Hanna had a flat trachea, a TOF cough (often compared to a seal or dog barking), extra ribs (V - vertebrae), anal stenosis (A - anal), Ventricular Septal defect (VSD) (C - cardiac), unilateral renal agenesis (only one kidney) (R-renal), malformation of the right thumb (L- limb).

Hanna had surgery at 3 years old to improve the function of her thumb.

Hanna has many hospital visits each month as with all the different organs involved she is looked after by a large team of consultants.

Hanna also suffers from asthma and has many chest infections and lots of missed schooling, and misses her friends a lot.

Update 10th July 2010

Hanna is struggling with the hot weather. The high pollen counts are really affecting her hayfever and asthma. Most days her eyes are red and sore, she is constantly sneezing and wheezing, but in true Hanna form she doesn’t let it stop her!!

Hanna took part in her schools sports day last week and came second in her race - so I was very proud of her!

Hanna has also been a very busy Brownie and has recently gained her first aid, agility, collectors and dancers badges. She is also close to completing her booklovers badge.

We saw her cardiac specialist last week and following several tests/scans, ECG’s and heart monitoring, he has decided that Hanna’s heart episodes are not due to arrhythmias which is good news, but this leaves the situation unresolved. He is unsure of what might be causing it, but is going down the root of blood pressure problems. So we have to make sure Hanna drinks at least 2 litres of water a day and has plenty of salt on her dinners!! This is going to be revised in 6 months time or sooner if the episodes worsen or increase in frequency.

Thanks once again to all the kind people that have taken the time to write to Hanna and send her gifts to keep her smiling!! Hanna wants special thanks this month to go to pal Alice P. Despite all her health problems she took the time to send Hanna a parcel full of wonderful girly things that she loved. Also, Hanna wants to nominate Richard Brisley for the weirdest parcel of the month award - you know who you are and never mind smiling, Hanna was crying with laughter when she saw what it was and why it arrived for her!!!

Update 6th June 2010

Hanna has had a good month. She has had another episode of her heart problems but apart from that she has kept well. The warmer weather does seem to help Hanna’s health and as long as we keep on top of her asthma and hayfever with lots of medication she seems happier too!

She had an appointment with her plastic surgeon who was pleased with her thumb and her fine mobility skills.

During half term Hanna had the opportunity to go to a holiday club again where she thoroughly enjoyed herself trying out archery, arts and crafts, trampolining and go-karting.

We also seem to be getting Lotty’s medical problems under control and so she is now enjoying being able to run around in the garden.

Thank you once again for all the fantastic cards, letters, and emails you have sent Hanna and Lotty. Also a big thanks to all the generous gifts that have been sent to the girls. Again there have been so many that I can’t remember everyone individually but Hanna wanted a mention this month to go to Cheryl who sent Hanna a gorgeous Eeyore t shirt and Lotty a cute cuddly Pooh bear from Disneyland Paris.

Update 30th April 2010

Good new from us this time!! Hanna had an appointment with her surgeon following her barium swallow. The results showed no significant strictures and fair peristalsis, which was good as this means that Hanna will not need any surgery - which she was very happy about. The surgeon thought the cause of Hanna’s eating problems was a severe flare up of her reflux which caused inflammation of her esophagus so it was difficult and uncomfortable for her to swallow food. As it seems to have settled almost back to ‘normal’ for Hanna, it was decided to leave meds as they are as to see what happens.

On another positive note, after having Vikki suggest that we might qualify for a holiday at Donnas Dream House, Hanna’s Nan nominated us. We have just found out we have been offered a holiday in August. Hanna and Lotty are very excited as after Hanna’s dad lost his job in the summer we thought a family holiday this year was out of the question.

Hanna has been overwhelmed with all the gifts she has received recently. She is very selfless though and is concerned that Lotty has not received any!! Lotty has been quite unwell with her asthma and GORD and at the moment takes more medication than Hanna and so she said Lotty deserved some gifts instead. So a request from Hanna: ‘If you were going to send me a gift in the next few weeks could you send Lotty one instead. Thank you.’ I am incredibly proud of my little girl for always thinking of others despite all she goes through.

After the TV feature of Post Pals the amount of post and especially emails Hanna has received has been incredible!! There are just too many to list but it is wonderful that people that don’t know Hanna have taken the time to send her words of encouragement and praise, so a big thank you to you all. You are all fantastic yourselves for taking the time out of your busy lives to make a child smile.

Update 3rd April 2010

Hanna still continues to have issues with her swallowing/eating. She had her barium swallow as planned and now we wait for an appointment to discuss the findings with her surgeon. Why does it always seem to be a waiting game?

Unfortunately Hanna contracted tonsillitis a couple of weeks ago which caused her to be in bed for nearly a week with a high temperature and unable to eat anything at all. She has lost quite a bit of weight and as eating is difficult anyway she is struggling to put the weight back on. She says she will suck all the Easter chocolate she gets so that will help her!!

Despite being poorly, Hanna managed to take part in the Sport Relief Mile and we even saw Dick and Dom. Hanna was very excited as they ran right past us!! We managed to raise £50.00.

Thank you so much to all those who have continued to correspond with Hanna. She loves replying to all who include an address and I have to fight to use the computer now as she is always typing/emailing to someone!!

I can’t remember everyone as there are too many to keep track of but you know who you are and you are all stars for brightening up my daughters’ day. Big thanks to Sarah G who sends so many letter/cards gifts, not only to Hanna, but also to Lotty too.

Update 7th March 2010

Hanna has had a tough month. Eating has been a struggle and her ‘TOF cough’ has reared its ugly head and has really got her down. She has spent lots of time off school and has been really missing her friends.

We had an appointment with her surgeon as we are concerned that her eating problems may be due to a stricture in her oesophagus. Her surgeon requested an urgent referral for a Barium swallow which will help him decide whether she needs surgery for a dilation or whether her eating difficulties are caused by something else. This is scheduled for 23^rd March so I will post an update when possible. For the moment it’s just a waiting game.

Hanna enjoyed her gymnastics competition and her floor routine went really well. Her vault wasn’t so good but overall she came 14^th, which was very good as she has missed a lot of training sessions due to asthma and chest infections over the winter.

Hanna is looking forward to taking part in the Sports Relief Mile and it is something to focus on to keep her mind off her forth coming tests and possible surgery.

A BIG thank you for all the cards and gifts Hanna has received. They have really cheered her up when she has been fed up and in discomfort and she especially liked the Hello Kitty toy that came all the way from Japan - the official home of Hello Kitty!! Once again, thanks so much to everybody that has sent post to Hanna, it is very much appreciated and has helped her through a tough few weeks. People’s kindness has astounded us.

Update 3rd February 2010

January has been a better month for Hanna. She has been full of cold but with increased medication we have managed to keep chest infections at bay (so far anyway!).

Hanna has had some investigations on her heart-echocardiogram and a 24 hour recording of her heart activity as her heart consultant believes she may be suffering from an arrhythmia.

As Hanna is new to Post Pals she has only just had her postal address put on her page, so we had no post in January, but thanks to Amber, Jessica, Charlee and Coire for the emails she received. They really cheered her up.

Hanna has a gymnastic competition next week but with an on going ankle injury she is not too hopeful that she will do well, so any good luck messages would be welcome to encourage her to stay positive!!

Update 13th January 2010

Hanna has had a difficult December. She caught a virus which left her in bed for a week with very high temperatures and no appetite. This then turned into a chest infection so antibiotic therapy was given. After another 2 weeks she was feeling a little better. This meant she missed lots of schooling and she was especially upset missing the last week of term when all the fun activities, such as the class party, making decorations etc, took
place.

Fortunately she was well enough to enjoy Christmas and got lots of nice presents. Five days later was her birthday so cue more presents -we now need an extension for all the toys!!

She was very excited to receive the smarties from Post Pals, so thanks for that!