Help improve Toni's life fighting leukemia
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Hello everyone.
Firstly I'm a single dad to 6 amazing children after my wife passed with cervical cancer. Unfortunately my youngest daughter Toni was diagnosed with ALL leukemia on the 8th August 2020. After spending almost 6 months in the Queen Elizabeth University hospital she was discharged on the 3rd Jan 2021. She will continue to undergo chemotherapy for approx 2 1/2 years.
Unfortunately the week before she was discharged from hospital we had a major water leak at home which has resulted in quite substantial damage to the bathroom and kitchen which has resulted in toni needing extended stays in hospital and further operations to remove and replace her central line numerous times. I shall include the wording from the letter sent from the hospital social works and occupational therapists to my local council along with some photos of the damage.
The local council along with my local councilor all believe the damage is non essential and cited covid restrictions for delaying the repairs despite being advised that toni requires a shower a few times daily and lack of mobility stops her getting into a bath. Now the hospital will not entertain toni and now insist she's admitted the day before her operation for her lumber puncture and spinal chemotherapy.
This is highly embarrassing and degrading at best for toni and means she has far too many unnecessary overnight hospital stays than need be.
Copy of the letter sent to North Lanarkshire council
To whom it may concern Mr Robert Chalmers is a Tenant with Airdrie Housing Association. Mr Chalmers became known to writer through the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow Oncology Medical Team. Mr Chalmers nine year old daughter Toni was diagnosed with (ALL) blood cancer on the 8th August 2020. Toni is undergoing intensive chemotherapy treatment at the above Hospital. Toni is now wheelchair dependent and requires a high and complex level of support and care from her dad and the medical team.
I received a report on Tuesday the 18th of May 21 from the Specialist Oncology Nurse Wendy Taylor. Wendy reported that three weeks ago Mr Chalmers nine year old daughter Toni was admitted to hospital with an infection in her central line this line provides all Toni's chemotherapy treatment and is highly dangerous when it becomes infected as it comes straight out from her chest wall. The infection was from the E.coli variant this was caused by not being able to wash properly because the family bathroom is not fit for purpose. I have seen photographs and will attach them to this email, the photographs show how the bathroom was left after a connector pipe under the bath became detached and caused extensive flooding to both the bathroom and the kitchen floors.
Mr Chalmers reported that the worker who attended his home at the end of December 2020 to repair the burst pipe took a hammer to the bath panel and broke it along with the wash basin although the wash basin was repaired Mr Chalmers was however told by his local housing that repair to floors and bath panel were cosmetic and would not be repaired due to COVID restrictions.
Due to lack of this repair it has resulted in Mr Chalmers having to wash his daughter Toni in the Living Room. Toni’s cancer diagnoses means that she requires frequent daily bathing to help minimise the constant risk of infection due to her low immunity. This is totally unacceptable as Toni requires a clean and appropriate environment for bathing. Mr Chalmers has six children five of them wash in a bathroom that the floor has been so badly damaged by water that they constantly have to endure splinters from the broken flooring.
Mr Chalmers and his daughter Toni also struggled with being refused a disabled parking bay at the family home apparently due the neighbour's across the street having driveways. This is not an acceptable solution as Mr Chalmers and daughter Toni have to endure parking in other streets that are a good distance from his front door due to his street being very busy with vans and cars throughout the day. This is so difficult when Toni returns from hospital after treatment she is constantly very tired and in a lot of pain and is pushed in her wheelchair through the wind and rain until she reaches her home.I believe the solution to both the bathroom repairs and the parking situation would be to have this rectified as soon as possible to minimise further risk of E.coli infection to Toni as this will in turn prevent further hospitalisation.
I also feel that it would be a great benefit to the above family, if they could be considered to have their own driveway this would allow daughter Toni easier access to the family car if it's at her front door when getting to and from hospital as appointments and day surgery can be as many as five days a week depending on her bloods and treatment protocol.
Toni will continue to undergo chemotherapy treatment for the next two to three years. Toni’s care needs will continue to be high and complex for some time.
As you can imagine the difficulties Mr Chalmers faces on a daily basis he is a single parent a widower who has six children one who is very sick and requires constant care and attention and yet he finds the energy and strength to continue to hold down a job in between hospital appointments and daily care for all his children. Mr Chalmers also supplied and fitted a new Kitchen last year to his home as the previous one was so old and falling apart that he had to renew for hygiene reasons, as again he was advised that it would not be renewed by his Housing providers due to cost. The new kitchen was a very costly item to replace and has left the family with no other savings to repair bathroom or fit a driveway.
Mr Chalmers is a man who takes very good care of his Tenancy and I believe to help make the above families life a little less stressful at this very difficult time, if his Housing provider would agree to support and assist with reducing the stresses from the bathroom and parking situation.
Regards
Eileen Walls
CLIC Sargent Social Work Services
Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow
Firstly I'm a single dad to 6 amazing children after my wife passed with cervical cancer. Unfortunately my youngest daughter Toni was diagnosed with ALL leukemia on the 8th August 2020. After spending almost 6 months in the Queen Elizabeth University hospital she was discharged on the 3rd Jan 2021. She will continue to undergo chemotherapy for approx 2 1/2 years.
Unfortunately the week before she was discharged from hospital we had a major water leak at home which has resulted in quite substantial damage to the bathroom and kitchen which has resulted in toni needing extended stays in hospital and further operations to remove and replace her central line numerous times. I shall include the wording from the letter sent from the hospital social works and occupational therapists to my local council along with some photos of the damage.
The local council along with my local councilor all believe the damage is non essential and cited covid restrictions for delaying the repairs despite being advised that toni requires a shower a few times daily and lack of mobility stops her getting into a bath. Now the hospital will not entertain toni and now insist she's admitted the day before her operation for her lumber puncture and spinal chemotherapy.
This is highly embarrassing and degrading at best for toni and means she has far too many unnecessary overnight hospital stays than need be.
Copy of the letter sent to North Lanarkshire council
To whom it may concern Mr Robert Chalmers is a Tenant with Airdrie Housing Association. Mr Chalmers became known to writer through the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow Oncology Medical Team. Mr Chalmers nine year old daughter Toni was diagnosed with (ALL) blood cancer on the 8th August 2020. Toni is undergoing intensive chemotherapy treatment at the above Hospital. Toni is now wheelchair dependent and requires a high and complex level of support and care from her dad and the medical team.I received a report on Tuesday the 18th of May 21 from the Specialist Oncology Nurse Wendy Taylor. Wendy reported that three weeks ago Mr Chalmers nine year old daughter Toni was admitted to hospital with an infection in her central line this line provides all Toni's chemotherapy treatment and is highly dangerous when it becomes infected as it comes straight out from her chest wall. The infection was from the E.coli variant this was caused by not being able to wash properly because the family bathroom is not fit for purpose. I have seen photographs and will attach them to this email, the photographs show how the bathroom was left after a connector pipe under the bath became detached and caused extensive flooding to both the bathroom and the kitchen floors.
Mr Chalmers reported that the worker who attended his home at the end of December 2020 to repair the burst pipe took a hammer to the bath panel and broke it along with the wash basin although the wash basin was repaired Mr Chalmers was however told by his local housing that repair to floors and bath panel were cosmetic and would not be repaired due to COVID restrictions.
Due to lack of this repair it has resulted in Mr Chalmers having to wash his daughter Toni in the Living Room. Toni’s cancer diagnoses means that she requires frequent daily bathing to help minimise the constant risk of infection due to her low immunity. This is totally unacceptable as Toni requires a clean and appropriate environment for bathing. Mr Chalmers has six children five of them wash in a bathroom that the floor has been so badly damaged by water that they constantly have to endure splinters from the broken flooring.
Mr Chalmers and his daughter Toni also struggled with being refused a disabled parking bay at the family home apparently due the neighbour's across the street having driveways. This is not an acceptable solution as Mr Chalmers and daughter Toni have to endure parking in other streets that are a good distance from his front door due to his street being very busy with vans and cars throughout the day. This is so difficult when Toni returns from hospital after treatment she is constantly very tired and in a lot of pain and is pushed in her wheelchair through the wind and rain until she reaches her home.I believe the solution to both the bathroom repairs and the parking situation would be to have this rectified as soon as possible to minimise further risk of E.coli infection to Toni as this will in turn prevent further hospitalisation.
I also feel that it would be a great benefit to the above family, if they could be considered to have their own driveway this would allow daughter Toni easier access to the family car if it's at her front door when getting to and from hospital as appointments and day surgery can be as many as five days a week depending on her bloods and treatment protocol.
Toni will continue to undergo chemotherapy treatment for the next two to three years. Toni’s care needs will continue to be high and complex for some time.
As you can imagine the difficulties Mr Chalmers faces on a daily basis he is a single parent a widower who has six children one who is very sick and requires constant care and attention and yet he finds the energy and strength to continue to hold down a job in between hospital appointments and daily care for all his children. Mr Chalmers also supplied and fitted a new Kitchen last year to his home as the previous one was so old and falling apart that he had to renew for hygiene reasons, as again he was advised that it would not be renewed by his Housing providers due to cost. The new kitchen was a very costly item to replace and has left the family with no other savings to repair bathroom or fit a driveway.
Mr Chalmers is a man who takes very good care of his Tenancy and I believe to help make the above families life a little less stressful at this very difficult time, if his Housing provider would agree to support and assist with reducing the stresses from the bathroom and parking situation.
Regards
Eileen Walls
CLIC Sargent Social Work Services
Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow
Organizer
Robert Chalmers
Organizer
Scotland