Easter Fun with “Oliver” at South Hill Park

Martha took advantage of her Easter break to attend a matinee performance of Oliver with her sister and dad at our fantastic local arts centre South Hill Park. Martha’s talented mum, Angela, was in the band for the production - skilfully playing the violin. Martha had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the show. So much so that she “sang along” to most of the musical numbers – this added to Martha’s enjoyment of the show but perhaps not so much for the audience members sitting close to her J

Martha on an Easter trip to Windsor with her mummy, daddy and sister.

Martha's Magic Quiz 2016

Martha’s family and supporters turned out in impressive numbers for what has now become Martha’s annual fundraising event. We had lots of very positive feedback from people who attended and we have raised enough money to pay for a full three week period of daily  intensive physiotherapy at the Footsteps Centre in Oxford and some weekly privately funded physiotherapy at home. Martha really benefits from these and they will be even more vital if Martha has to have surgery on her hips later this year.

Martha's Mum thanking everyone for supporting Martha

A full house at Martha's Magic Quiz

 

Martha’s Health in the Spotlight

Martha has a number of on-going health issues that have taken some attention in the last few months. These have required travel to multiple hospitals, seeing many consultants and having numerous medical tests. At the beginning of 2016 Martha had a number of visits to the Chelsea and Westminster to further investigate her recurring kidney infections. Martha had a “nuclear medicine” test where they inject nuclear material and then monitor its journey through her body. We are pleased to report that Martha’s kidneys were given a clean bill of health during this process, but we are still working hard to keep the infections at bay. Martha also attended the Nuffield Orthopaedic hospital in Oxford around the same time to review the on-going problems she has with her hips. Further X-rays and a CT scan were carried out and we expect to have the results and a plan of action from the consultant shortly. We have also been working to try and better control Martha’s epilepsy.

Martha and Orla in Martha's Bed

Martha still has multiple seizures each day, despite being on the maximum dose of her current  medication - Epilim. Following a review with her epilepsy consultant we have agreed to try a different medication (Keppra) to see if this will better control Martha’s seizures. We are currently in the transition phase of introducing the new medication and will start to reduce the original medication shortly. We are hoping that this will reduce Martha’s seizures to a level where they are not impacting her day to day life, as this will hopefully promote her development.

Family Visit to Robin Hood

Martha and her family attended a matinee of the Quince Players 2016 pantomime Robin Hood. Martha’s parents were both involved in the production and Martha attended the performance with twenty of her family for a fun afternoon of comedy, music and dance. As always, Martha thoroughly enjoyed the event and we are always grateful to the Quince Players for their on-going support for Martha and our family.  



Martha was awarded Star of the Week at school

Martha Turns Nine Years Old

Martha turned 9 years old on 16th January and had a lovely day with her family opening presents and having a birthday cake and party food.

Martha having fun on her birthday