Mat (my husband) and I quickly learnt that life still goes on and while all we wanted to do was crawl under a rock, we knew that we needed to tread through the water the best we could. We had to be strong for our family.
We started to look at the ‘now’ and look to the future as to what our children needed to be as happy and balanced as possible, whilst going through this challenge.
We were so fortunate that Tylah (our son) is very creative and imaginative, so when Codee-Jo’s bloods were low and she was isolated, Tylah was such a blessing. When she was in the depth of treatment, she could see very few people, but if her bloods were ok, her cousins and close friends would come for play dates if she was up to it. This was hugely appreciated and always lifted her spirits.
However, this did not meet her educational needs, nor the social skills needed in life to make new friends, mix with people and get along with others.
Codee-Jo had theatre monthly, bloods regularly, IV chemo every few weeks and when her bloods were low, she had to stay clear of people so she didn’t get sick. We really started to recognise the very real need for both her social and educational growth. But because of their low immunity, oncology children cannot go to childcare, kindergarten or school, during their treatment.
For oncology kids aged 2 to 5 there was very limited opportunity in South Australia for them to develop their social and educational needs in both a germ free and safe environment.
For us, not only did we want something for our daughter, we also wanted something for all kids in the same situation.
After research, we found there was a playgroup in the North funded by a great organisation.
We thought it was greatly needed to have something similar in the south of Adelaide
From here, Lion Hearts Learning was born.
Founders Jolyn Phillips and Matthew Townsend found themselves at a loss in 2017 when their daughter Codee-Jo was diagnosed with Leukaemia..
Our daughter Codee-Jo Townsend was diagnosed with Leukaemia in April 2017 and it was a roller coaster of emotions. We had to be brave in the face of sheer terror, provide laughter when wanting to cry and give meds at home while wanting to run to the hospital to ask the nurses to do it.
We had never imagined that anything like this would ever happen.
From our incredibly happy life, in the blink of an eye, our world went to turmoil.
At the beginning we literally lived hour by hour and to be honest, most of the first six months was a blur.
We really thought we would wake from a bad dream and it would all be over.
Codee-Jo fought the whole ride, from being injected, her port accessed, given oral meds and going to theatre. She would vomit one minute and have a blood nose the next.
She has the heart of a lion!
