As many of you will know, Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula Support (TOFS) is a charity that is very close to our hearts.
Following a difficult IVF pregnancy, our twins were born at 36 weeks in December 2017. When they were two days old, and following Leo not being able to keep down his milk feeds, Leo was diagnosed with Oesophageal Atresia and Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula, which was operated on at four days old (his oesophagus was in two halves with a 2cm gap and the bottom half was attached to his trachea).
A great deal of the first two years of Leo's life was spent in and out of hospital and he had a second surgery to widen his oesophagus in 2020. Although Leo is now a much more confident eater, he still gets food stuck, eats very slowly and struggles with his oesophageal dysmotility and reflux. He is on a variety of medications daily, including prophylactic antibiotics to help prevent severe respiratory infections. His last hospital admission was in September last year and last A&E visit was a couple of months ago.
Although this condition can be improved by different surgeries along the way it is very much a life-long condition. Thankfully, in the early days we came across the TOFS charity and the information and support we have received since then has been invaluable to us as a family.
TOFS receives no government funding and that is why it is so important to us to raise money where we can.
We had the opportunity to walk the VLM last year, and although it was a great achievement, it was really painful! We're hoping that this year covid doesn't hamper our training as we basically had to crawl through the last mile last year - the goal is to still be able to walk when we cross the finish line!
Thank you in advance for anything you are able to donate.
