This is me - Please help me learn to eat.
Hi everybody. My name is Gemma Lynne Deutschmann. I was born on the 8th of September 2007. Most people that meet me take one look and say to my parents "wow, what a nice chubby healthy child you have." This just proves that looks aren't everything. I've given my parents quite a hard time, and a few frights along the way, but I know they still love me. I am a bit different from other children because I get fed through a tube straight into my tummy. The reason for this is because I have a condition called Hyperinsulinism and because my parents have to feed me at least 5 times a day to keep my blood sugars stable I never get hungry. My parents have taken me to see all kinds of speech therapists and doctors in South Africa, and although they have received some good advice, none of them can teach me to be hungry. My parents, through reading websites of other children that are tube fed, have come across a hospital (oh no...not another one) in Austria that can help me learn to eat. My entire family chipped in loads of money to take me to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to have an operation to remove 95% of my pancreas. Please read my story on this website, told through the eyes of my parents, and if you can help me get to Austria by donating some money, my parents and I would be extremely thankful.
18/05/2011
(We raised the full amount to go to Austria. Graz was a huge success and Gemma has been eating for 6 months now. We continue writing her blog from time to time). Thank you to all who still visit Gemma's website.
18/05/2011
(We raised the full amount to go to Austria. Graz was a huge success and Gemma has been eating for 6 months now. We continue writing her blog from time to time). Thank you to all who still visit Gemma's website.
