A personal story from Jo Hawkridge
Jude was diagnosed in February 2020 with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, and was treated at Sheffield Children’s Hospital during his treatment Jude went through three intense treatments at different times which meant Jude and Jo had to be in isolation for long periods of time. Jo talks about the influence isolation had on Jude, herself and her family.
“My son Jude had to have three very intensive treatments at separate times. So we were both in isolation for long periods of time. One being three months and the main thing that affected us all was not being able to be a family of four. Jude wasn’t able to cuddle his sister and I was not able to spend a lot of time with my daughter – she was 10 at the time going into her teens so this was a crucial time as a girl so we really did miss out on a lot and as a result of this is did affect our relationship and we’ve actually had to have some therapy to try and get back on track, which we are getting there now.
We also weren’t able to be outside and walk the dog so not being able to go on long dog walks every day affected me as I wasn’t able to get the daily exercise, which affected my mental health.
You are stuck in tiny room, which you try and make as homely as possible by putting things on the wall, pictures and your own bedding but at the end of the day it’s a hospital and not your own home.
You’re in there for a long time, and it can become quite intense and you feel like you’re in prison at times. It’s hard to keep motivation going for your child because you’re not in a good frame of mind but you can’t show that to them so you’ve got to really try and keep their spirits up.
We tried to make it as fun as possible when Jude was well enough to play, but there’s only so much you can inside one room so we did things like basketball with a softball into the washing basket, anything we could think of to pass the time.
I became very obsessed with cleanliness, so even when doctors and nurses are coming into the room and they are saving your child’s life. I was obsessed with, have they got gloves on? Have they washed their hands? Where have they been? They’ve been on the outside world, did they bring any illnesses in with them? I became quite OCD about wiping everything down, and its very very tough. But I know we were in the right place at that time, so you’ve got no choice and you’ve just got to get on with it.
We support Cure Leukaemia because we need more trials, we need to get the trials that are available for adults available for children. Without a trial my son would no longer be here”.
Why Jude Hawkridge hated being in isolation as a patient
Thank you for reading Jude’s Story
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