Success in Graz

We have just got back from our 3 week treatment program in Graz, Austria.

Oscar's treatment was a great success. The program started on the 8th November, we arrived at the hospital on the 7th to settle in and meet Professor Marguerite Dunitz-Sheer who runs the program.

While we were talking with MDS Oscar pulled his tube out so the Professor said "Lets leave it out", so we did.

Oscar did great form the very start, because he wasn't being fed through his tube anymore he was getting hungrier so he started eating more solids and drinking small amounts of special thickened fluids.

Every morning Oscar was weighed, the children are allowed to lose upto 10% of their body weight. Oscar did lose weight to start with but then his weight levelled out and stayed steady, which is almost unheard of on the program.

It was a very busy 3 weeks Oscar had various therapies everyday. He had speech therapy, occupational therapy, physio therapy and swimming.

Also every day all the children attend a play picnic, all different foods are laid out for the children to explore and play with. Oscar loved play picnic especially the mashed potatoes and dishes of custard.

The doctors kept calling Oscar the star pupil, he did better than they and us ever expected him to.

We would like to thank Christina and Rabina the therapists Oscar had and thanks to Professor Dunitz, also to all the nurses on the ward.

Professor Dunitz and her staff are the world leaders in their field and have helped Oscar to become a happy boy with lots of possibilities ahead of him, the sad thing is that the program is nothing that the NHS couldn't do over here to help so many other children but they seem to want to go down the surgical route and fit children with G-tubes (pegs) with all the discomfort and upset that go along with these for the children and their families.

We would also like to thank you all again for helping us to raise the money to send Oscar to Graz, we can now enjoy Oscar's first Christmas with NO TUBE :)