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Grateful mum Louise now gives all her time to help
By Paul Hastie
A MOTHER was so grateful for the wonderful treatment provided for her daughter at the Royal Hospital For Sick Children Yorkhill, she decided to dedicate her time to helping the hospital raise money.
Now Louise Miles is playing a major role in our campaign.
Shortly after her daughter Katy’s fourth birthday Louise noticed a marked difference
in her.
She has always been an energetic wee girl, but in September 2004 Katy became a lot quieter. Even
her nursery school had contacted Louise to say something seemed amiss.
Katy complained of pains in her tummy and it began to swell. Her doctor said it was most likely constipation.
Just to be sure, Louise took Katy from their home in Cove, Argyll, for an ultrasound scan at Yorkhill Hospital.
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 Louise and Katy with a signed book given to them by Kylie Minogue
to help raise money.
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As a former physiotherapist Louise was anxious when she saw the results.
Wrong
“I’ve worked in hospitals and am used to seeing scans,” she said. “I won’t pretend I can read them exactly — but when I saw it I could tell something was wrong.”
Louise was right to be concerned. The scan showed a large mass in Katy’s abdomen over her left kidney.
It was a rare cancer known as a Wilms’ tumour — there are only around 70 cases a year in the UK.
Louise and husband Gary, a Marine based at Coulport, were told there was only a 65 per cent chance of Katy pulling through.
“But we were thankful there was this chance,” she said. “There was a bit of hope and that was all we wanted.”
At the time little brother Harry was just a year old, thankfully too young to experience the agonising few months ahead for the family.
Katy endured chemotherapy over the next six weeks to shrink the tumour.
She had a Hickman line inserted through her chest into the main blood vessel for the treatment to be administered.
The hospital staff worked wonders to make the chemotherapy as acceptable as possible.
‘Wigglies’
“The children call the Hickman lines ‘wigglies’ and are encouraged to give them a name.
“There’s a book for them called Wiggly’s Journey Through
Hospital, that explains their treatment and teaches them how to care for their line.”
On November 11 Katy’s left kidney was removed after eight hours of surgery. “These are the dates that stick in your mind,” said Louise.
It was a difficult Christmas for the family.
Just a few days after returning home, Katy began vomiting while in her grandparents’ care.
Louise took her back to Yorkhill.
“I sat her on my knee and she said, Mummy I’m cold.’ I watched as she just turned blue.”
“She’d developed a type of poisoning through her Hickman line.”
In December Katy faced a month of radiotherapy at the Beatson Oncology Centre in Glasgow.
“Agreeing to the radiotherapy was one of the toughest times,” said Louise. “Knowing there could be a fertility risk, even if it was years down the line.”
The first six months of 2005 saw regular return visits to Yorkhill for more chemotherapy.
Exhausting
It was too exhausting for Katy to go back to nursery, but her teacher would come to visit at home and read stories.
The next date to stick in Louise’s mind was June 22, 2005 — the day Katy was given the all-clear.
At the end of that summer she was back among her friends and able to start primary school.
“It was a tearful first day.
“All the other mums knew what Katy had been through and were delighted to see her there.”
It was a shaky start. On her second day Katy passed out in the school line due to exhaustion.
This happened a few more times, but family, friends, teachers and parents were all there to support Katy.
“Now she can run about like any of her friends,” said Louise.
She loves dancing, especially her ballet.
“Katy returns to hospital every three months for an ultrasound and chest X-ray, but she loves going there.
“There’s a 75 to 80 per cent chance of the cancer not coming back, but it’s tense every time she is in.
“Not a day goes by when I don’t think about it. As a mother, every time she coughs it makes me sit up.”
Kylie
Last year Katy won the Child of Courage Award for her bravery and met Kylie Minogue who presented her prize.
Louise has dedicated her time to helping Yorkhill. She wrote The Little Book Of Big Smiles
with another mum to raise funds.
Then followed the charity Ball Of Smiles and the Round Of Smiles golf tournament — raising tens of thousands of pounds for the hospital.
Louise became friendly with the staff and six months ago was asked to join them as a full-time fundraiser.
“I’m now doing the same job here as I was doing at home and no matter what happens in life Yorkhill will always be close to my heart.”
 IF YOU have a special reason for contributing to or raising funds for
our appeal then we’d like to hear from you.
It could be that you’d like to thank caring staff for the treatment they’ve provided in your hour of
need. Or perhaps a relative spent time in one of Scotland’s children’s hospitals and the experience has left a lasting impression on your family’s life.
Whatever the reason, please let us know.
We’d be delighted to share your experiences with our readers. And, who knows, it may inspire others to follow in your fund-raising footsteps.
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