WOW WE HAVE REACHED OUR TARGET
We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped and supported us over the past 7 months in our Quest to raise the funds to take Chrissy to St Louis for life changing surgery.
It has been a lot of hard work and we wouldn't have been able to do it without the love and support of family and friends old and new.
The next stage of our journey starts in January, keep up to date with Chrissy's progress by visiting our website, we will be starting a blog shortly all about our journey at St Louis Childrens Hospital.
Thank you Steve, Fiona, Christopher and David XX
Click here for Chrissy's Blog
It has been a lot of hard work and we wouldn't have been able to do it without the love and support of family and friends old and new.
The next stage of our journey starts in January, keep up to date with Chrissy's progress by visiting our website, we will be starting a blog shortly all about our journey at St Louis Childrens Hospital.
Thank you Steve, Fiona, Christopher and David XX
Click here for Chrissy's Blog
Hello, my name is Christopher Maltby. I’m 6 years old and have Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy.
My twin brother David and I were born 12 weeks early at Harrogate District Hospital. I weighed just 2lb 4oz and David was 2lb 6oz. We were transferred to Leeds General Infirmary where we spent our first week on their Neonatal high dependency unit. We were then transferred back to the Special Care Baby Unit at Harrogate where we spent the next 9 weeks.
At around 18 months old my mummy and daddy noticed that I wasn’t developing at the same rate as my brother. It was then that my doctors diagnosed me as having Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. This affects my gross motor skills which prevents me from walking properly. It also causes me problems with my fine motor skills.
I have to wear splints on my legs during the day to keep my feet in correct position, however even with these I cannot keep my left heel on the floor and my left leg turns inwards. I also have special splints that I have to wear on a night to help prevent my muscles tightening up. I have difficulty with a lot of everyday tasks such as getting dressed & writing. I have a special needs support assistant at school to assist me with these tasks.
I need to have daily physiotherapy to try to prevent my muscles in my legs becoming too tight and my tendons and heel cords from shortening.
We have tried all the treatments available to me in the UK to help with the symptoms of my Cerebral Palsy. I have had Botox injections in my calves and thighs, which helped to begin with. Unfortunately the treatment no longer works for me. I have also tried Oral Baclofen which was supposed to relax the muscle; but this did not help at all. My Doctor has told me that there are no further treatment options open to me in the UK.
My Mummy and Daddy have been doing their own research and have found that there is a specialist children’s hospital in St. Louis, America where the Doctors have successfully operated on and helped over 2,000 children with Cerebral Palsy. The procedure is called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR).
The treatment will consist of two surgeries. The first will be the actual SDR surgery and the second will involve the lengthening of my hamstrings and heel cords. Following the surgery I will also require intensive physiotherapy for twelve months to help develop strength and muscle which has not developed normally because of the spasticity; this physiotherapy is not available to me on the NHS.
The inclusive cost of the treatment will be approximately £58,000.
My family and friends will be running various fund raising events and I would be very grateful if you could help me on my Quest in any way, whether that is by getting involved in the upcoming events or by making a donation.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
Christopher x
My twin brother David and I were born 12 weeks early at Harrogate District Hospital. I weighed just 2lb 4oz and David was 2lb 6oz. We were transferred to Leeds General Infirmary where we spent our first week on their Neonatal high dependency unit. We were then transferred back to the Special Care Baby Unit at Harrogate where we spent the next 9 weeks.
At around 18 months old my mummy and daddy noticed that I wasn’t developing at the same rate as my brother. It was then that my doctors diagnosed me as having Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. This affects my gross motor skills which prevents me from walking properly. It also causes me problems with my fine motor skills.
I have to wear splints on my legs during the day to keep my feet in correct position, however even with these I cannot keep my left heel on the floor and my left leg turns inwards. I also have special splints that I have to wear on a night to help prevent my muscles tightening up. I have difficulty with a lot of everyday tasks such as getting dressed & writing. I have a special needs support assistant at school to assist me with these tasks.
I need to have daily physiotherapy to try to prevent my muscles in my legs becoming too tight and my tendons and heel cords from shortening.
We have tried all the treatments available to me in the UK to help with the symptoms of my Cerebral Palsy. I have had Botox injections in my calves and thighs, which helped to begin with. Unfortunately the treatment no longer works for me. I have also tried Oral Baclofen which was supposed to relax the muscle; but this did not help at all. My Doctor has told me that there are no further treatment options open to me in the UK.
My Mummy and Daddy have been doing their own research and have found that there is a specialist children’s hospital in St. Louis, America where the Doctors have successfully operated on and helped over 2,000 children with Cerebral Palsy. The procedure is called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR).
The treatment will consist of two surgeries. The first will be the actual SDR surgery and the second will involve the lengthening of my hamstrings and heel cords. Following the surgery I will also require intensive physiotherapy for twelve months to help develop strength and muscle which has not developed normally because of the spasticity; this physiotherapy is not available to me on the NHS.
The inclusive cost of the treatment will be approximately £58,000.
My family and friends will be running various fund raising events and I would be very grateful if you could help me on my Quest in any way, whether that is by getting involved in the upcoming events or by making a donation.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
Christopher x
