The Beginning:

Our son Connor was a happy healthy 4 year old boy, he loved playing computer games, fishing with his dad, playing dress up with his big sister Ella, and being chased by his baby sister Lola - Connor is her favourite person in the world!

A few weeks after his birthday last year ( sept 11) Con started complaining of belly aches during the night, these became more frequent, he lost his appetite or said he was full after a few mouthfuls of food , his belly was swollen and he lost weight,  he was pale and began sleeping during the day, i was forward and back to our doctors worrying that something was wrong i told them my fears he had Leukaemia- he really looked at deaths door but i was told he had virus's, tonsillitis, a cold etc.

After a bad night on December 13th 2011, my partner and i took Con to our local A& E, he was examined and a blood test for Glandular Fever was positive, we relaxed, a symptom of GF is a swollen spleen- hence Connors protruding belly.

A week late i started worrying again, Con wouldn't eat, wouldn't play was tired all the time, he had a bad nose bleed that didn't stop for half an hour, he just sat on the sofa with a blanket watching his superheroes on TV.

On 22nd December i went back to my doctor's i said i wanted him seen at our hospital again by a specialist , i wanted thorough tests.

The appointment was made for the 11th January 2012, we live 10 minutes away so left our girls with my sister, we didnt think we would be long so i didnt even have a handbag with me, my partner had £10 in his pocket for parking.

Con had a blood test , an x-ray and an ultrasound - within an hour we were taken to a room and told our son had a tumour , over 13 cms in length over 10 cm wide.
We were told to make preparations for our other children, go home and pack clothes as an ambulance would be taking us to Great Ormond Street in a few hours.

Our whole world fell apart.

I stayed with Con while my partner drove home to pack a suitcase and brake the news to our family, and by 8 o'clock that night we were at GOSH .

What followed was weeks of tests, his diagnosis was Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma, the cancer had spread to his bone marrow and a few 'hot spots' around his body, he would need an aggressive treatment programme - it started immediately.

It is now the 25th April 2012, i sometimes wonder how that is even possible, i still feel like we are only a few weeks in to this nightmare.

Con has responded so well to his chemo, he is over the first hurdle,his bone marrow is CLEAR, the hot spots are GONE, he is due to have surgery this friday to remove the evil thing inside him that has made him so ill, our darling boy calls it the 'BADDIE', he is not wrong.

Ive started this blog to keep all the amazing people who are supporting us updated on Cons progress - with the help of FAN ( Families Agaisnt Neuroblastoma) we have started to raise funds for extra treatment that will give our son a fighting chance should the NHS treatment be unsuccessful,  we have been amazed at the support, donations and help we have recieved from family,friends and strangers, you will never know how much this has meant to us.

Connor will beat this!!!

Sarah and Ricky
x x x x x