Dreaming of tasting the delights of food (From Croydon Guardian)

Dreaming of tasting the delights of food

11:55am Wednesday 12th October 2005

• Print
• Email
• Share

Kayleigh-Ann Doran is hoping an operation she has recently undergone will change her life forever and rid her of a birth defect that has caused her so much distress.

12-year-old Kayleigh-Ann has suffered with gastro-oesophageal reflux, which occurs when the valve at the top of the stomach is weak and as a result the stomach contents can be brought up.

Normally this condition is found among young babies and they usually grow out of it, but unfortunately for Kayleigh-Ann, this was not the case.

This birth defect causes her to regurgitate and vomit every time she eats or drinks. Kayleigh-Ann has not eaten solid food for a year.

She used to be able to keep her food down, but following an episode of bronchitis last year which caused further weakness in her sphincter the force of regurgitation became too intense for her to control.

Since then Kayleigh-Ann, from Woodmansterne Road, Coulsdon, has been in and out of three different hospitals, has undergone numerous tests, including three endoscopies.

Last December she had to start being fed through a naso-gastric tube. She says: "It has been quite hard because I've got this tube across my face and people stop and stare at me or ask loads of questions."

Despite this, she tries to go to school as much as she can, and is now in her second year of secondary school.

Kayleigh-Ann had been waiting for an operation which could enable her to lead a normal life.

The procedure was carried out at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in September and involved moving the top of the stomach up and wrapping it around the muscle at the bottom of the oesophagus, this muscle now acts as the valve stopping food entering the stomach from travelling back into the oesophagus.

"We have been told the operation requires a high level of expertise,"says Rose, "we hope Kayleigh will be able to have a normal life again."

After the operation Kayleigh-Ann spent three days in the hospital's high dependancy unit and then spent some time in a normal ward before being allowed home.

Rose says: "It is too early to know if it has worked but she has been able to eat some very soft foods and we are hopeful she will soon be able to eat a normal diet."

Kayleigh-Ann is currently making a website to support other youngsters with the condition.

Rohan Kulatilake, who nominated Kayleigh-Ann for the award, says: "Her strength of character and optimism makes her indeed a child of great courage."

• Print
• Email
• Share