20 June 2018

Be inspired by eight year old Chloe

Chloe has recently turned eight years old. At just two years old, she met our Giggle Doctors whilst having chemotherapy in hospital. She recently decided to cut her hair off, raising money for our Giggle Doctor programme and donating her hair to the Little Princess Trust. What an inspiring young girl!

We spoke to Chloe’s mum to find out more about Chloe’s story and how the Giggle Doctors had inspired her.

“When Chloe was diagnosed with cancer, she had just turned two. She had to undergo 18 months of chemotherapy at Addenbrookes Hospital. Most weeks, we would go for chemotherapy on Thursdays which is the day that the Giggle Doctors were there, so we used to see them quite often.  

It was very hard for Chloe. It took quite a while to get used to and was very traumatic at first. It is hard to explain to a two year old everything that is happening and why and that you are trying to make them better. They see things happening to them that aren’t very nice. They don’t really understand why they can’t go and do all the normal things that they did before.

Once Chloe was diagnosed, everything happened very quickly. I think it all happened within one week. She had an operation on the Tuesday and then on the Thursday she had her first chemotherapy.  We first saw the Giggle Doctors on that first chemo day and it was lovely because they made her a little balloon bracelet, blew some bubbles and made some jokes. When we came away all she talked about, was the balloon bracelet and seeing the Giggle Doctors and the rest of it had almost been forgotten. It was a bit like a magic wand, almost wiping away all the bad stuff. It was really lovely on a very hard day.

It was lovely for us to see a smile during the bad times. It sort of gives you hope for the rest of the treatment. When the Doctors tell you that your child is going to need treatment for 18 months, possibly more, you can’t see the end of the tunnel. It just seems never ending.  But when you have something like the Giggle Doctors that puts a smile on your child’s face, you think ok, there will be days where it’s a bit better or a little bit easier and it’s not going to all be completely awful. It was very reassuring.

Dr Fab was one of Chloe’s favourite Giggle Doctors. They met quite a few times. She gave Chloe a postcard picture of her with a signature on the back which to this day, Chloe still has stuck in her bedroom. She definitely loved Dr Fab. She’s famous in Chloe’s eyes. There’s no Little Mix posters on her walls, just Dr Fab.

There was one particular time when Chloe was being fed by a tube as she had stopped eating whilst she had her treatment. The tube had come out and the nurse was trying to help her get it back in. Chloe hadn’t spoken to us for most of the day. She was lying there quietly when Dr Dotty came by. She made her a little balloon lady bird very quietly and put it on Chloe. She let her stroke it then blew some bubbles. Chloe started to smile and interact with her. After that Chloe lay there quietly still but she was talking again and she seemed much happier and calmer. It definitely made a difference to her mood after the traumatic experience of trying to get the tube back in. It just kind of reassured her and made her feel a bit happy again.

TheodoraChloe recently decided to cut her hair off and donate it to charity.  We had heard about the Little Princess Trust charity but not until after her hair had started to grow back so she didn’t have a wig. Chloe has often mentioned that one day she wanted to help children who didn’t have any hair. When Chloe was going through her treatment, she was very much into all the Disney princesses, who all have long flowing hair, so her hair is very important to her. This is how I knew that this was something she really wanted to do as soon as she mentioned it. We recently went to the hairdressers and it was very spontaneous. She suddenly said “Can I chop my hair off and donate it?” So we did it there and then. Then we talked about her favourite charity and who she wanted to fundraise for and she immediately said the Giggle Doctors.

We truly appreciated the Giggle Doctors during our time in hospital and what a difference they made not just to Chloe but to us, the parents too. To see your child smile during the tough times really means a lot”.

Chloe has raised a fantastic £190 for the Theodora Children’s Charity from cutting her hair off. We want to say a huge thank you to her from everyone at the Theodora Children’s Charity.

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