2 minute read
With my favourite nurses
from Emphasis Winter 2020
by phauk
Doing crafts in hospital
Hollie Beattie is seven years old and was diagnosed with PH in April this year – just as lockdown began. She has had many stays in hospital, both where she lives in Belfast and at Great Ormond Street in London, and she is now waiting for a double lung transplant. Despite all this, Hollie’s mum Marion says she remains positive and upbeat. Here, she shares her hospital experiences in her own words to help other children with PH. "It was very scary going to hospital at the start because I had never stayed in hospital before. Mummy said I had when I was a baby, but I couldn’t remember that! My Mum, Dad and I had to go to London in an Air Ambulance. It was a very WINTER 2020 emphasis 32 small plane and there was no toilet. Then it was an ambulance straight to GOSH. It was scary, but exciting at the same time. It was my first time in London. While I was in hospital I enjoyed doing arts and crafts. The play specialists would bring me lots of supplies. GOSH TV had a movie on every night, I watched Frozen 2 three times! In hospital, I made a friend called Harry, he taught me some magic tricks. One Saturday we did a magic show for the doctors and nurses! My favourite food in hospital was definitely pizza! "When I woke up after my procedure I was very hungry and the pizza tasted so good!" day. We also did family bingo every Saturday night. I really enjoyed that because I won some money and spent it on new gymnastics bars! Sometimes when I’m playing, running about and cycling, I get out of breath quickly. This makes me worry because I have fainted three times. I have to stop and get my breath back. I feel lucky because most of the time I feel well. I have learned some breathing exercises since being in hospital. I do ‘cool down’ breathing and it helps me get my breathing back to normal. When my friends ask what PH is I tell them I have a problem in my lungs that the doctors can’t fix." Practising gymsnastics
I also really love the toast in hospital, for breakfast and supper! Beccy and Tizzy were my favourite nurses in hospital, they came to see me every day. Tizzy played with me a lot and even stayed late the day I had my procedure, to make sure I was ok. One day she took me for a walk and we got ice cream. During lockdown and while I was in hospital I used Zoom a lot. My gymnastics friend Annamae and I would practice together and also play with our dolls. All the nurses got to know Annamae because we would call each other every
In my school uniform
With my brother Ethan
