Hi 

 

Below you can read all about why we are raising money for the Royal Children's Hospital. If you don't like to read check out our clip on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3NXj6A0EDU&feature=youtu.be.

  

On July 30, 1998 Megan Grace Hanson was born. Megan came into the world bum first but perfect. Over the 10 1/2 years we were blessed to have Megan in our life she faced many challenges and lived a pretty complicated little life. Megan had her first seizure when she was only two months old. When she was 18 months old Megan was diagnosed with an epilepsy syndrome which is known as Dravet's Syndrome. Dravet's syndrome is very difficult to treat and Megan's seizures were very difficult to control.

 

Megan had type 1 diabetes which was diagnosed when she was 4. Megan went into hospital for surgery on her hips. When she wasn't waking up properly after her operation, she had a blood test. A normal blood sugar is between about 4 and 10 for young children. Megan's blood sugar was 64! Megan spent 9 days in intensive care and there were a few times when we didn't think she would survive. While Megan was in intensive care there were things happening to her poor little body that don't normally happen when someone is diagnosed with diabetes. The doctors wondered if something else was going on. Megan went to theatre and had some biopsies. We found out that on top of her diabetes and epilepsy, Megan also had a metabolic or mitochondrial disorder called cytochrome c oxidase deficiency; big words that basically mean her cells wouldn't process energy properly. So now Megan had three chronic incurable conditions and had been through major orthopedic surgery all by the time she was 4 years and 2 weeks old.

 

From then on we were regularly seeing the neurology, diabetes and metabolic doctors. Over the next few years Megan developed a squint which meant we were seeing the opthalmologists and she had problems with swallowing so we were seeing the gastroenterologists. And then a few months before Megan died she had a second lot of major orthopedic surgery, this time on her lower legs. By the time Megan was 10 we were regularly seeing 6 different medical teams. On top of all Megan's medical conditions, she had a developmental disability. Megan didn't walk until she was 2 1/2, wasn't toilet trained, couldn't dress herself, couldn't really feed herself, or communicate in any way to let us know what she wanted. 

 

This might sound like a lot for a little girl to deal with. On one level it was. But Megan lived a rich and full life that many of us only dream about. Megan was surrounded by people who loved her. She had a smile that lit up the room. She adored watching her brother play basketball and loved going to the football. Megan had some amazing adventures during trips to America, Queensland, Tassie, Bali, and on the back of my bike when we did the Great Vic BikeRide.  She loved anything to do with water: summers at the beach, swimming, water slides, donuts behind the boat. 

 

Megan loved being out in her stroller. We did the first 3 run for the kids together. After Megan died I continued to do the run for Megan with family and friends joining me each year. This year was my 10th Run for the kids: 10 runs with or for Megan. Because I have dodgy knees and hips and actually HATE RUNNING, I thought I might make this my last run, so decided to go out with a bang. I trained and did my best time since Megan died. And we set up this fundraising page to make a difference for kids like Megan. While the life Megan lived definitely had a lot to do with the family she was part of and friends she was surrounded by, the life Megan lived would not have been possible without the world class care she had access to at the Royal Children's Hospital. There are so many kids like Megan. Kids who have complicated medical conditions that require expert medical, nursing and allied health care. Kids who would die if they lived in so many other countries. kids who live amazing lives in Australia because we have health care professionals at the Royal Children's Hospital who are constantly researching and implementing world's best care.

 

My fund raising goal might seem lofty. I would love to raise $50,000. I'm lucky to be supported by family and friends who have joined me in both running and fundraising. I'm asking the hospital that any money raised on Megan's behalf be directed to improving the care of kids with complex medical conditions that cross many specialties. These are the kids who spend longer in hospital, whose care needs more coordination, and whose care remains most challenging.     

 

Please support our efforts by making a secure online donation. I would also really appreciate it if you could 'Like' and share my page above or comment below so more people know about it.  

 

Click 'Donate Now' to make a secure online donation and help us reach our target. 

 

Thanks so much for your support!

 

Sally and the running4megan team