LITTLE Tia-Mae McCarthy looks like any normal seven-year-old but has never been able to EAT or DRINK in her life. She was born with a hole in her oesophagus linking her mouth to her stomach and spent her first year in hospital where doctors doubted she would survive. An operation closed the gap. But Tia-Mae never began to eat or drink even though there is no physical reason stopping her. The schoolgirl has a mixture of food with vitamins and nutrients pumped directly into her stomach each night to keep her alive. Her lack of any physical desire to eat has left British doctors baffled. But mum Sue, 42, has heard that a hospital in the US could treat her.
Tia-Mae was born three months prematurely at Southampton General Hospital, Hants and needed treatment so urgently that Sue said staff would not let her touch the baby.
She said: There were seven members of staff round the incubator, waiting to whisk her off. I was just given a Polaroid. She looked absolutely terrible, and they prepared me for the worst.
Then she seemed to turn a corner and come through it, but since that day she hasn't eaten or drunk a thing. They don't think it's a physical thing any more.
The pediatrician said he hadn't come across anything like this. Unless I go to America I won't know why. I feel that I have no other option.?
An appeal by Sue, of Bournemouth, Dorset, has resulted in offers of help flooding in, with one woman offering to loan her timeshare in America.
Sue who also has a three-year-old son Finley said: All I want to be able to do is see Tia-Mae sitting at the dinner table and enjoying a meal.
SUN Health Reporter EMMA MORTON writes: Tia-Mae's body has healed but her mind is still telling her that she cannot eat.
This psychological condition is common in patients who have adapted to having a debilitating condition over a long period of time.
It could take many more years of therapy with a child psychiatrist before she can eat.
Sky 1 showed a documentary about a girl who didn't eat she had to be fed through a tube. A few years later Tia is now 10 and has finally started eating.
Miracle of girl who finally started eating food... at the age of TEN
A ten-year-old girl has delighted her family by eating food for the first time in her life.
Tia-Mae has spent a decade being fed through a tube because she refused to consume anything in the usual way.
Despite being seen by a host of experts and flown to a specialist clinic in Switzerland the youngster refused to eat.
Recently her mum Sue McCarthy, 44, offered her some yogurt and was amazed when she accepted.
Now Tia-Mae has soup for lunch, followed by custard or ice cream and the same again for dinner.
She also consumes Angel Delight, mousse, custard and semolina.
At night she is still fed nutrients through a tube, but her mum hopes that in time she will be eating like all her friends.
Born three months prematurely with a large gap between her oesophagus and her stomach, Tia-Mae spent most of her first year in hospital.
But there was no medical reason why she couldn't eat food and the condition baffled everyone.
Now the family from Alderholt, near Bournemouth, Dorset, finally believe they are close to their daughter being able to eat enough to stop having to give her the extra nutrients.
Mum Sue said: "It's lovely to see her eating.
"We can go out for dinner now. I take a little pot of soup for her and she sits and eats with us. Then for pudding she chooses ice cream or custard.
"I can't believe that just before Christmas, all she was eating was a few mouthfuls of yogurt and now we have got this long list of things that she will sit down and happily eat.
"I never thought it would happen.
"I keep thinking of her future, when she's out and about, meeting friends, going to the pictures - normal stuff that children do.
"I don't want her to miss out on all that. I think it bothers me more than it bothers her.
"The specialist has been my light at the end of the tunnel.
"Because no-one knew what was wrong with Tia, they didn't know how to help us. I was left on my own, with no idea what to do.
"We've now got little steps that are achievable and we feel much more positive about everything."
Paul's View
"seeing Tia 3 years later and has now taken steps to finally eat is great news for her family and friends she is happy and her mother Sue i admire she has gone through a lot Tia is now 10 going on 11 when the program was on TV it was like everyone else was going through what Tia's mom was and many showed support Tia and her Mom appeared on 5 News. Sue has shown great strength i don't think i could have done it.
A Mother A Carer who has shown great strength has earned the respect and admiration Tia is lucky to have a mother like Sue i hope that we can be continually updated once in a while of Tia's progress even when Tia goes into her teens and into womanhood that will be up to her family of course!
Updates
this space is reserved for any future news on Tia if her family want to share it this will be up to them to do so first!Okay Please Read
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