The Plan

After a lot of waiting and phone calls this morning we now have a plan.

We had an issue in that both Great Ormond Street and the Royal Marsden in London were debating which of them should take us. It has now come to light that our home address in London is in the catchment area of the Royal Marsden and not Great Ormond Street. This is not a problem as all hospitals that treat leukaemia treat it in exactly the same way. However, The Royal Marsden would not have a place for Catherine until three weeks time and treatment needs to begin immediately if leukaemia is confirmed.

Therefore we will be staying at St James' Hospital (Jimmy's) in Leeds for the first course of diagnosis and possible treatment.

Having met Catherine yesterday, Jimmy's are absolutely delighted that she is staying and both Mark and I, despite wanting to begin treatment closer to friends and family, feel an immense sense of peace at the rightness of this decision. Jimmy's love her to bits and she has already made great friends with her key nurse, Jenny. We will be provided with accommodation at the Hospital in terms of rooms in a shared house with other parents in a similar situation. We will of course let people know the address when we receive word. Also, we will be able to transfer back to London after the initial stage of treatment, but we all felt so cared for yesterday at Jimmy's that we are pleased this decision has been made.

If people do want to come and visit us from the South, there is provision for people to stay overnight. We should be able to transfer at a later date, but the first course of treatment is so important that she must be given it this week.

Here is the link to information about Jimmy's
http://www.leedsteachinghospitals.com/patients/aboutus/hospitals/st_james.php

Love from Dawn and Mark