Lexie

At one month she had a nasogastric tube inserted because she was choking while feeding and a video swallow study at four months confirmed she had swallowing difficulties and aspiration (food and drink going into her lungs) which was causing chest infections. At six months Lexie had a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube inserted into her stomach to help keep her nourished and growing. Although, Lexie has had surgeries to close her lip and her palate, the combination of her medical history and time in hospital has left her with an oral aversion (a fear of eating and drinking due to having relied on feeding tubes from a young age), and feeding and speech difficulties. She also has a middle-ear dysfunction and chronic bronchitis.

To help her overcome her feeding and speech challenges, Lexie, now 22 months, and her parents Andrew and Breanne, has been supported by speech pathologists since she was a few days old.

“Without the support of her speech pathologist, Lexie would most likely not be eating orally.  The speech pathology team has taught us new strategies to help us feed Lexie at home. This has made a significant improvement in Lexie’s ability to eat and her willingness to try new textures and flavours.  She is now able to gain weight and eat a balanced diet,” says Breanne.

Lexie still needs her feeding tube for fluids as she is not able to drink orally due to her continued chest infections but she is progressing well.

“Lexie has started to like many foods that she could not tolerate previously and her chewing continues to improve.  She also recently attended a speech group for children with cleft palate where we learnt how to teach her to make sounds such as ‘p’, ‘b’, ‘t’, ‘d and ‘s’ that are difficult for her to make because of the cleft palate.”

“All the medical and therapy appointments means, Lexie often misses out on just being a normal kid, but after a very hectic first year of life, she is the healthiest we have seen her thanks to her medical and allied health teams.

“Our journey has been scary and full of unexpected obstacles while at the same time rewarding and life-changing.”