Click photo to enlarge
Jade Moffatt and his mother, Brenda Wright, at their Oamaru
home. Photo by sally Rae.
For the family of little Jade Moffatt, life revolves
around frequent trips to and stays in hospital.
Jade, who turns 3 in March, was born with his bowel outside
his body.
The condition, called gastroschisis, affects one in 5000
babies.
He was rushed into surgery an hour after birth and that
operation was the first of many.
The most recent was five-and-a-half-hour operation in July.
Since the Otago Daily Times last spoke with Jade's family in
December 2007, his mother, Brenda Wright, estimated he had
been in hospital "probably 80% of the time".
Jade is unable to eat normally and is fed milk and nutrients
through a stomach tube.
He also had a "real phobia" about food which his parents were
trying to overcome.
He is mostly in hospital as the result of infections
requiring two-week stays for antibiotics.
When not in hospital, Jade still has to travel to Dunedin
Hospital once a week to have his needle changed and to be
reviewed.
He also has weekly blood tests.
A motorcycle poker run is being held in North Otago on
December 12 to raise money for the family's medical costs.
Participants will meet at the Galleon complex at 11.30am for
registration and to receive the first card in a hand of
poker.
They will then ride the back-roads of North Otago, receiving
poker cards at various stops.
There was a possibility of taking Jade to the United States
for a bowel and liver transplant - "Then he'd just be a
normal kid" - but that could require staying in the US for as
long as three years and carried the risk of possible organ
rejection.
"It's like a back-up [plan] if we've tried everything here.
"That's the last option for us to do," Miss Wright said.
In the meantime, Miss Wright said she and her partner, Andrew
Moffatt, would "just battle away until we come to a
standstill".
