Due to complications at birth, we brought our daughter Callie home with a gastric-tube after seven weeks in the NICU. During the next four and a half years we attended occupational and speech therapies to help her progress in her feeding skills. Most involved food play and we achieved little to no progress, and in one case we even experienced regression. Adding to the challenges was the pain she was constantly in due to constant leaking around her gastric-tube and the pressure the tube placed on a nerve.

Finally, after two nationally known children's hospitals and three local therapy experts, we were referred to Carol Elliott in Richmond, VA by an acquaintance who had a child with similar challenges.

When we arrived for treatment, our daughter was four years, nine months old and completely dependent upon her feeding tube. At that time Callie was able to drink water from a glass, refusing all other liquids, and would occasionally eat a few goldfish crackers or potato chips. To say the least, we were desperate for help when we arrived for our first treatment session.

After six days of intensive treatment she ate an ounce of applesauce, and from that point on the progress was nothing short of a miracle. Within eight weeks of intensive treatment Callie was taking all of her calories orally and we were only using her feeding tube to supplement her water intake. Within another four weeks after returning home we were no longer using the tube at all. Her gastric-tube was finally removed after six months of consistent oral feeding.

Callie was no longer in pain for the first time in her life, and she was so much happier and outgoing. We continued work with Carol via telehealth on Callie's chewing skills and slowly moved away from pureed foods. We are forever grateful for the help and education we have received.