Sharnee Lee FiebigStart A New Life is supporting the Sharnee’s Angels project to raise awareness and money for The Palliative Care Team at the Adelaide Women’s & Children’s Hospital. For information Visit - Sharnee's Gallery IN MEMORY OF SHARNEE LEE FIEBIG21/01/05 – 03/04/06"A BEAUTIFUL WITNESS TO LIFE WITH COURAGE & RESILIENCE BEYOND HER TIME"Sharnee’s StoryAt 9 months of age Sharnee was diagnosed with 2 inoperable Brain Tumors. After spending one long week in hospital undergoing tests and medication we decided the best thing we could do for Sharnee was to bring her home to her brothers and sister (read Steff's letter - PDF 200KB) to care for her in a normal loving environment. Not only was this best for her but for the other children as well. We were able to care for her fulltime and the family could be with her as much as they wanted. It was scary, we did not know what lay ahead. If not for the help, support, encouragement, knowledge, expertise and availability of the Palliative Care Team from the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, we believe Sharnee would have ended up back in hospital for her last few months. In the first month of Palliative Care there were lots of phone support with a couple of home visits. As time went on the Palliative Care became even more valuable making sure Sharnee always received the best of care and that we knew how to administer her medicines, give bolus feeds through nasogastric tube, use the kangaroo pump for night feeds and just being available 24 hours a day to advise on medication if new symptoms started to appear. Being able to care for Sharnee 24 hours a day, we could easily recognise any changes and were prepared with information provided by the nurses on what to expect. As Sharnee’s health started to detiorate quite rapidly, our time was spent trying to give her milk every hour as she was not able to keep much down at all and we had to administer more medicines just as often. Trying to keep a business going and taking care of our three other children was difficult, but with family and friends there to help, we were able to manage. We were physically and emotionally drained. It was very hard to sleep, as we had the monitor constantly on in our room so we could hear Sharnee and the beeps of machines. Once again, this is where Palliative Care were able to offer us their help by providing a ‘Night Nurse’. We hadn’t even known a Night Nurse was possible. When the Nurse arrived at our home and with the aid of a sleeping tablet, we were able to get our first 6 hours straight sleep for months. Over the next 8 or 9 nights, the Night Nurse service helped us cope with the final days of Sharnee’s life here on earth. These special Nurses became ‘Sharnee’s Angels’. Each morning we would wake to find Sharnee in new clothes with her hair beautifully combed after leaving her the night before in the hands of a doting Nurse who talked and loved on all her night, along with giving her medication. This meant a lot and made it easier for us to leave Sharnee in their care knowing she was in loving hands and we would be awoken if ever needed. At the time we were aware of the tight funding for the Palliative Care Team and they had to find the funds to assist us having the Night Nurse service. Deciding when the service was most beneficial for us was also another consideration. In Sharnee’s case, our beautiful little girl had such a strong heart and was not giving up easily. And so the Palliative Care Team would search for more funds so we could have another Night Nurse. We would have been happy to stay up every night if we needed to. We had Sharnee in our bed a couple of nights when the doctors thought it would be her last. It was very hard to sleep at all and like we said, she wasn’t giving up too easily. Even during this time, we talked of how we would like to help raise funds and awareness of such a precious service that had been given to us. Palliative Care have continued to support our family even after Sharnee’s passing away and we believe this service is most valuable to babies, children and families whose lives are affected by disease, disability and/or death. We all seem to know someone that is or has been affected by an early childhood illness and this minimal funded service is greatly needed in their lives today. In memory of Sharnee we wish to assist the Palliative Care Team by raising awareness and money for families so they too can benefit with a Sharnee Night from the Palliative Care Night Nurses or as we affectionately now refer to them as "Sharnee’s Angels". Garry & Jo Fiebig (Sharnee’s Parents) Project DetailsTo give families of sick children the opportunity and benefit of Palliative Care with the Night Nurse service ~ For every $300 raised a family will benefit with a Sharnee Night with a Sharnee Angel. BeneficiariesThe Palliative Care Team at the Adelaide Women’s & Children’s Hospital. Fundraising Events
Total Funds Raised: $31,000
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