We have had a very busy couple of weeks in the run-up to
Christmas – attending Christmas parties, meeting up with family and taking part
in a fundraising concert in aid of Friends of PICU. The concert on 14th December was on the
second anniversary of Jessica’s Norwood procedure and it was wonderful to see
Jessica having a little dance on the stage during the final number and reflect
on how far she has come. This time two
years ago, Jessica was in intensive care and about to spend her first Christmas
in hospital and now she is a very active and happy little girl, enjoying being
a big sister and bringing so much joy into our lives. Thank you to everyone who attended the
concert and helped us to raise £400 for Friends of PICU. It was particularly lovely to be able to
catch up with one of the other heart families who we got to know during one of
Jessica’s stays on Ocean Ward at the concert as well.
We saw a few more heart families from Ocean Ward the
following day when we attended the Families of Ocean Ward Christmas party. Jessica really enjoyed herself at the party,
particularly the bouncy castle and the soft play area. She wasn’t too sure about meeting Father
Christmas although the present met with full approval!
We have been catching up with friends and family in the
run-up to Christmas – Jessica’s cousins Clare, Seren and Siân were visiting
from Luxembourg and it was lovely to see the girls together again having not
seen them for over a year. We also had another
visit to see Nanny and Jessica got to catch up with her aunties, uncles and
cousins. Unfortunately, whilst at Nanny’s,
Jessica fell over and caught her face on a chair resulting in a black eye –
poor little love. It is starting to look
much better now thankfully.
Dr Archer has now confirmed that the plan for the new year
is for Jessica to have another cardiac catheter investigation to look at her
lung arteries – we do not have a date yet for this but will keep you updated.
In the meantime, we would like to wish you all a very Merry
Christmas and peace and blessings for the year ahead.