Excited patients arrived early for the film and were surprised with a Q & A from Kermit and Miss Piggy themselves, introduced by the film’s director James Bobin, who had dedicated 2 years to getting the legendary characters to the big screen.

Kermit and Miss Piggy emerged in front of the rapt audience and kicked off a brief Q & A with the patients, allowing them to ask whatever questions they wished. “How long does it take you to get ready?” asked one small boy. “5 minutes, as you may have noticed, I don’t wear any clothes” answered Kermit. Miss Piggy on the other hand takes “5 hours, but just because I like people to have to wait for me”.

Kermit and Miss Piggy both thanked the patients for coming along and left them to enjoy the exclusive screening (which was also shown to all the patients in the hospital through their bedside entertainment systems). They then dashed off to wards, trying hard to not get too mobbed as they passed through the hospital reception.

They visited children who were unable to come to the screening on Parrot Ward, for patients who need surgery to the brain or spine and Tiger ward, for neurology, epilepsy & craniofacial patients. They also visited the Dinosaur Day Care outpatients unit to see patients who wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see the film.

Staff and patients alike were left with broad grins and stories to tell on a day which won’t be soon forgotten.

The Muppets visit is part of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity’s ongoing relationship with Disney. Find out about the many ways that Disney supports us on our website.

It wasn’t intentional! But the urge to “do something” had overcome me, and I am so pleased it did.

I think most people are fully aware of the hospital and the good work which is carried out there, but unless you’re a parent, you will not see the ageing buildings and facilities which are in use.

Maisey has been very lucky though: she got to use the brand new Octav Botnar Wing which has all the latest facilities and equipment. There are game consoles, space to play, draw and lots of activities to detract from the real reasons for the visits.

Her condition is complex and related to her entire digestive system and she follows a very restrictive diet. This means she cannot eat most normal foods and has a lot of specialist foods on prescription. It is very difficult for her as she cannot have normal sweets or treats, or even have a proper birthday cake. But with the help of Great Ormond Street Hospital, we hope that eventually Maisey can experience normal food, perhaps even a pizza!

By taking on the Inca Trek challenge, I knew I was going to be directly helping in making visits by other children in the future more comfortable and that my small efforts would contribute to a much bigger difference. I am proud to have been part of this event, and I will certainly take part in another.

Being one of these people who never visits the gym & who is stuck behind a desk most of the week, the Inca Trek was one the most challenging things I have ever embarked upon. In fact it was probably the single hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but it was certainly worth it! And the sense of achievement is truly unbelievable.

I was quite apprehensive the week leading up to the big day and I had only really done a little bit of training. It’s described as a challenging trek, graded ‘tough’, 50km up and down mountainous snow capped peaks up to an oxygen depleting 4200 meters high! But I need not have worried in the slightest & I would do it all again tomorrow.

The country, the people, the trail, Incan ruins and Machu Picchu are only the icing on the trek, the best bits are really the experience, fun, friendship, emotion, and being part of that ‘gel’ which brought together a fantastic group of individuals who shared a common purpose and goal.

It really is beyond words… and certainly should be on the top of your “to do” list.

Hear from the other trekkers who took part in Inca Trail 2011:

To take part in one of the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity treks, please visit our Challenge Events pages. The treks range from UK treks (Hadrian’s Wall, Jurassic Coast, London to Brighton) to overseas adventures (Great Wall of China, Inca Trail, Kilimanjaro). Find one that suits you best and add it to your “to do” list!

More than just a birthmark

It quickly became apparent that it was more than just a birthmark. Millie was diagnosed with a benign tumour of the blood vessels called a haemangioma. It was growing inside her airway and causing her problems breathing. She was immediately put on high dose steroids to try and shrink the tumour.

Only three days later her breathing had severely worsened.  She was rushed to intensive care for eight days before being transferred back to Peter Pan Ward to continue her treatment. During her stay at GOSH Millie had a number of operations, including a tracheostomy, which creates an artificial airway to help her breathe.

After six months she was finally stable enough to take home. With help from the ward nurses and a tracheostomy nurse specialist, we were taught how to look after her away from hospital although one of the hardest things was not being able to hear her laugh or cry.

A brand new treatment

When Millie’s condition deteriorated again, only weeks later, she was rushed back to hospital. The dermatology team mentioned a new and untried treatment, using propranolol, a beta-blocker traditionally used to treat heart conditions. Millie was the first child to be treated for a haemangioma at GOSH with this new medicine and the results were amazing.

It’s completely changed her life. The tumour was really sore and she never liked to be touched or picked up because it gave her so much pain. But then we were able to kiss and cuddle her, and within a few days she was able to move her head from side to side.

Despite various attempts, the hospital had been unable to remove her tracheostomy. But in April 2010, Millie had an operation to reconstruct her airway using cartilage from her rib cage.  Her operation was followed by a long stay in intensive care and some complications but overall it was a success.

Our little fighter

Over time, the haemangioma has reduced in size and faded in colour. Millie has been left with scarring on her face, neck and ears, but she is a lively, happy and loud little girl. She’s a little fighter. Right from the beginning she was not going to let this thing beat her and we are just so proud of everything she has had to overcome.

This is, in no way, the end of Millie’s journey at Great Ormond Street Hospital. She still has some speech problems because of the damage to her mouth, but she can basically do everything a normal three-year-old can do. I sometimes worry about how people will react to her when she starts school as my instinct is to protect her. As far as I’m concerned she is beautiful. We are just glad she has been given the chance to live her life like any other little girl.

She still has lots of laser and plastic surgery to come to help correct the damage done by the haemangioma, but thanks to the amazing doctors, nurses and play staff there, Millie has a future for which we will be forever grateful.

Meet more of our patients and read their stories on our website. You can also find out more about why Great Ormond Street Hospital needs your help.

The research, funded by the children’s medical research charity Sparks, found that the use of aminoglycoside antibiotics can lead to profound deafness when given to children with a particular genetic mutation.

Previous studies supported by Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity have shown that children with the mutation, present in approximately 1 in 500 children, are placed at a high risk of hearing loss if prescribed aminoglycoside antibiotics.

Aminoglycoside antibiotics are used in hospitals around the world every day for the treatment and prevention of serious infections.  As a result, the team argue that there is a strong case for the genetic testing of children before administering them.

This latest study compared levels of hearing loss in middle-aged adults both with and without the genetic mutation. No difference was found, which indicates that the mutation alone is not responsible for hearing loss. This new evidence strengthens the case for genetic testing prior to treatment.

Dr Maria Bitner-Glindzicz, GOSHCC Reader in Clinical and Molecular Genetics comments, “This research has reinforced the need for the screening of children before they are prescribed aminoglycoside antibiotics and will allow doctors to use alternative medicine if necessary.

“We can now look towards building a strong case for the NHS screening of vulnerable groups of babies and children hospitalised with serious infections such as leukaemia, before being prescribed these antibiotics.”

Dr Renny Leach, Director of Research at Sparks, added, “As a charity, we fund pioneering medical research which will help improve quality of life or the treatment of childhood conditions and this important piece of research could fulfill both criteria. With further investigation this research has the potential to save the hearing of thousands of babies and children.”

Find out more about research at the UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital on the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity Bringing Research to Life website.

We chose GOSHCC because my youngest son, Archie, has been under the care of Great Ormond Street Hospital since birth. He was diagnosed with Gross Bilateral Renal Pelvic Dilatation, which was picked up in my 12 week scan. If it wasn’t for the urology team, we fear Archie would not be here today. Also my friend Kelly’s little boy was under the care of GOSH but sadly passed away in August 2011 in the GOSH intensive care unit. He was 8 years old. The money we raise is funding a quiet room in GOSH and the Ronald McDonald House will benefit from money raised too.

Myself and my friend Kelly were just brainstorming and a light bulb lit up above my head and we thought a skydive was a brilliant idea. We wanted to do something totally wild and wacky, something that people would look at us and think we are utterly crazy… which is when we thought about doing the skydive.

I don’t think words can describe just how nervous I actually am. It’s not every day you jump out of a plane between 10,000 and 12,000 feet in the air with only a parachute to bring you back down to ground safely. But I have to do it for both Archie and Harry.

A lot of the friends who are taking part I have known since a very young age, but some i have only met recently. You know they are your real friends though when you mention to them what you’re doing and they turn around to you and say “get me a pack, I’m doing it with you”. I’m very lucky to have such genuine friends.

A lot of the fundraising has been done through friends taking my forms to work with them and getting their colleagues to sponsor me.  I also approached the papers but most of our sponsors have come from word of mouth or people joining my group on my social networking page. We are also doing a charity ball straight after the jump for 250 people.

If we can do it – so can you!

Get a glimpse of what it was like for one of our skydivers last year!

Imagine the adrenaline rush as you jump from 12,000ft, heading towards the earth at 120mph for 7,000ft of free fall, then the tranquillity as the parachute deploys and you gently descend back to terra firma. If you want to do a skydive for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, find out all the details on our Skydive page.

“Stephen was referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital and he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. It came as such a surprise as I honestly didn’t know that children could get cancer. We were told it had developed to stage four and so it was very difficult to treat. I was very scared.”

“In December 2010, Stephen had an operation to remove the tumour. He was in Great Ormond Street Hospital for the whole of Christmas but he was happy!”

“The treatment wasn’t killing the cells as expected, so in March 2011, Stephen was given MIBG radiotherapy and a high dose of chemotherapy. That really helped him. In May, the tests showed he had no cancer cells. It was great news. We are so grateful. Stephen is now having the last stage of treatment (antibodies). The nurses and doctors are very caring. They are ready to share information and listen to the parents and patients. They make us feel comfortable. Stephen’s little sister Daisy actually gets excited when we come, which helps all of us including Stephen. He has been very brave.”

Stephen still comes to Great Ormond Street Hospital and recently interviewed one of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s professors: Kathy Pritchard-Jones, an expert in child cancer.

What job do you do?

I’m a doctor here at Great Ormond Street Hospital but I’m also a scientist – I study what’s going on in kidney cancer in children.

What’s special about the work you are doing?

That’s a good question. Research is about trying to find out something new or making treatments better. I lead for all the researchers in the UK on how we are going to make treatment for children with kidney cancer better.

Where do you do your research?

My research is based mainly at the hospital and I have a research lab next door in the UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH). The children that I study come from all over the UK, and in fact from right across Europe.

What are you working on right now? 

We have got some very good treatments for children with a kidney cancer called Wilms’ tumour. Nine out of 10 children get better from this kidney cancer but we have to give them lots of drugs and some of them need radiotherapy. The work we are doing is helping us to understand exactly what treatment to give each child. It will help the children both here at Great Ormond Street Hospital as well as the children with Wilms’ tumour everywhere else in the world.

Do children develop the same kinds of cancers as adults?

Children who get cancer are pretty unlucky. We don’t know why most of them do, but they get different cancers to adults.

When will you finish the work you are doing?

Research answers one question and then usually unearths another. So for the question, ‘Can we cure just as many children with Wilms’ tumour using less of a drug called doxorubicin?’, we have just finished that work and it took 10 years to answer that question. Now we are continuing to test the tumours in the lab to see if we can predict even more accurately which children can safely do without doxorubicin.

Find out more about research at the UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital on the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity Bringing Research to Life website.

Winter warmers
Chunky knit ladies scarves from just £4, stylish men’s gloves and scarf set from just £8 and the cow set pictured at only £4.50 per item. A cheap and very cheerful way to keep warm this winter.

Time to snuggle
Gorgeously soft, fleecy hot water bottle cover originally £22, now only £7.50. And it’s reversible – plaid on one side and softly striped on the other. Available in two colours, navy and parchment.

Don’t forget your diary
Perfect to pop in your handbag or brief case, our 2012 slim-line diary shows a week-to-view. Features lots of useful maps and conversion tables and a silver ribbon marker. Now only £1.50.

Special offer of the month!
When you buy anything on the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity online shop enter voucher code GOSHPEN to receive your free pen and calculator gift set worth £4 during the month of January.

Visit the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity online shop for all these special offers!

When the race was first held it started and finished at the Reading University Campus. I ran several in the following years and then had a long break until 4 years ago, when I started running it again each year. Last year the support I had was fantastic – 25 of my students from Chiltern College came along to volunteer and cheer me on!

The Reading Half Marathon was the first official run that I did. I chose it because it was in my home town and at that time there weren’t that many to choose from. Nowadays there’s a whole selection of 5Ks, 10Ks, half-marathon, marathons and even ultra-marathons to pick from!

This year’s Reading Half Marathon is taking place on April 1 and only requires a £25 deposit. It’s actually a really big event, with 18,500 participants and it winds its way around town before ending inside the fantastic Madjeski Stadium. Nothing can beat the feeling when you cross the mat into the stadium at the finish!

I wanted to run for GOSHCC because Chiltern College has a long association with fundraising for the hospital and from this I have realised how dependent the hospital is on fundraising events to continue their vital life-saving work.

I would advise anyone running this half-marathon (or any other) this year to make sure they do some regular running from now on (at least 3 times a week, building distance gradually) and manage a run of around 10 miles before the event.

That way they will be fit enough to really enjoy the event and they will, I hope, also be raising money for GOSHCC!

Find out more about the Reading Half Marathon on the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity website. If you’re not ready for a half-marathon yet, or think that sounds too easy there are plenty of different races from 5k to ultra-marathon. Why not start planning & training for one today?

Want to take on your first race in 2012? Or are you simply looking for a new running challenge? Find out more all the running events Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity is part of this year on our challenges website.

The craniofacial team from Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Science Museum, University College Hospital and the Eastman Dental Hospital and Institute have joined up to launch a new project to create the largest database of face shapes in the world.

Participants have their photograph taken in 3D and the results form part of a database of images used to help the treatment of patients with facial disfigurement.

The event at the Science Museum will run from 11 January until 10 April in the Live Science area on the first floor of the Wellcome Wing. Visitors can volunteer to have their photograph taken using the latest 3D imaging technology and explore what their faces look like in another dimension.

The project is part of the Science Museum’s ongoing Live Science programme, where visitors can volunteer to take part in real experiments conducted by visiting scientists.

Priya Umachandran, Contemporary Science Developer at the Science Museum said, “The Science Museum thrives on engaging visitors in the latest contemporary science issues and our Live Science programme lets visitors meet the experts and involves the public directly in cutting-edge research which has an impact upon all of us.”

Dr Chris Abela, Senior Craniofacial Fellow at Great Ormond Street Hospital said: “We know a lot about the bones in our faces but little is known about what makes our face the shape it is and about the skin and muscles that make up our face. By collecting as many 3D face photographs as we can we will have a greater understanding of our complex faces, and have greater knowledge to plan and perform the best facial surgery in the future.  This is a really exciting event and we want as many children, young people and adults to come and see themselves in 3D.”

The experiments are FREE and open to all visitors and no booking is required. For more information visit http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/mein3d. The Science Museum is open daily 10am to 6pm on Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD

Find out more about research at Great Ormond Street Hospital on our Bringing Research to Life website.

I have been wanting to take part in an overseas charity challenge for some time. When I started working at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity recently I knew that it would become more than a job and I wanted to make sure that I challenged myself for the thousands of families that walk through the doors of Great Ormond Street Hospital everyday.

I heard about the Round the Island challenge on my second day at the charity and thought that it would be a good target for me to work towards. Plus I’ll get to meet lots of new people, which I’m really excited about!

I bought a bike about 2 years ago and it is still in the shed! However….now that 2012 has landed, I have 4 months to train and get ready for what promises to be a physical and mental challenge, covering up to 150km (although I’ve been told there’s the option of an easier route!).

I exercise regularly and like to think that I am reasonably fit but I think that I will need to change my training style for this. I have joined a gym and plan on training with a friend who is also taking part in the challenge. Ideally I’d like to get to the stage when I am cycling into work.

I have never been to Ibiza before but I understand that there are lots of big hills which I am not looking forward to! However I am looking forward to riding the entire way around the warm mediterranean island – I hear it is very beautiful and what better way to see it! I’ve also been told we’ll be celebrating the end of our challenge with an evening at Pacha – very exciting.

I’m going to start my fundraising in mid January once everyone is over the Christmas pinch. I think I will do a couple of events and I am hoping that I can get my gym involved in a spinning challenge event.

Everyone thinks that it’s very funny that I am taking part in this due to my lack of enthusiasm for anything fitness related so I hope they will all be very generous and dig deep when they are sponsoring me. Anything I can raise will be very greatly received and I can guarantee that it is going towards a truly brilliant charity that puts ‘the child first and always’.

Want to do something brand new in 2012? Find out more about this unique two-day Round the Island Ibiza cycle challenge to raise funds for HAIRraising, an appeal to build two new operating theatres at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Come back to our blog over the next few weeks to discover more challenges you could take on in 2012!