Hi everyone, a lot of people have suggested we create a go fund me as they want to help raise funds for our little Teddys upcoming surgery, so; here goes!

As some of you have seen, our little boy Teddy is awaiting surgery/surgeries to have his Tonsils and Adenoids removed. Unfortunately, we have been let down by not only our GP’s but also the hospital too and we’ve unfortunately been left with no choice but to proceed with his surgery/surgeries privately.

A little context into this, ever since Teddy was born; he has suffered with reoccurring infections on a monthly basis. This has always been related to Ear, nose and throat ( ENT ). Over the last 10 months, it has been an ongoing battle with our GP regarding these infections and it has become more of a problem than it ever has before. It has taken him having 10 infections in 10 months, and for me to discover lumps up his nose before the GP even considered to take me seriously and refer him to an ENT specialist. Officially, the GP should have referred him at 4 infections this year alone to check if there was anything underlying, unfortunately this was left a further 6 times!! Teddy was initially diagnosed with nasal polyps, and obstructive sleep apnea by the GP, this was WITHOUT testing, let alone 2nd opinions from an ENT who are experts in this! Teddy does have issues breathing at night, often stopping breathing for short periods, however this is NOT due to nasal polyps nor sleep apnea as we have since found out! I’ll explain more further along..

Fast forward to Tuesday 8th Oct, Danny and I went about our usual evening and upon going upstairs to bed we found Teddy to be mid seizure and then he had stopped breathing for a total of 4 minutes! Thankfully Teddy came back round, but remained Postictle for an hour after. We transferred to Broomfield by ambulance and unfortunately our time at the hospital was not pleasant at all. After several hours of waiting to find out what was wrong with our boy, a doctor came to see us and made the assumption that he had a viral infection. This was in fact a guessing game with this doctor as he hadn’t even done so much as take a urine sample let alone bloods to confirm this. We were discharged shortly before 5:30 Wednesday morning, only to be back up there by 11am the same day! After several tests, and seeing a new paediatrician we were told we should never have been discharged from hospital without further tests performed to determine what was wrong with him. Now previous to this, we had been told he had nasal polyps and obstructive sleep apnea and that we were awaiting a sleep study as well as a CPAP or BiPAP machine to help support his breathing at night time, and that we were being referred to GOSH for surgery to remove the polyps. Therefore we assumed this was what was causing the issue the previous night. We had also been told Teddy may have the same neurological condition that I have, which may be the reason he has had seizures and that we needed to be transferred down to phoenix ward where they would perform an EEG. We were also down to see ENT either that evening or the following day! When arriving at the ward, we were met by not only a consultant but also a doctor of which both practically laughed in our faces when we explained what we’d been told in children’s A&E. There was no way we would be seeing an ENT, let alone be having an EEG. We were then told that yes Teddy was down as urgent for ENT, but that even as urgent it can take anywhere between 4+ months - 4 years to even see them, even as urgent! We were once again discharged, still with 0 clue on what was going on with our sweet boy!

Owing to the fact Teddy has been poorly for such a long time now, and has suffered enough especially with his breathing we decided we were going to find Teddy an ENT privately which FINALLY confirmed on Saturday 19th October he does NOT in fact have nasal polyps nor sleep apnea and he has been misdiagnosed by not only our own GP’s but also by Broomfield Hospital; this is totalling 6 separate health professionals!! Teddy does in fact need to have not only his tonsils removed but also his adenoids as both are very swollen, his tonsils are so close together they’re practically closed! The “nasal polyps” are in fact a natural side effect to the reoccurring infections causing the pockets inside his nose to be swollen! This in itself is what is causing his breathing to be erratic in the evening when he sleeps, hence the “apnea”. He is not getting enough oxygen at night time, which is taking its toll on his development too. It was decided at this appointment that Teddy will need to have surgery/surgeries to remove both his tonsils and adenoids and he should then continue to develop in the way he should, and also won’t be as much at risk for infection in the way he is now. Mr Abdelkader ( Private ENT ) can perform Teddys surgery but due to changes in insurance post Covid, he is not allowed to until he is 3 years old. However; he had referred Teddy to The Portland Hospital in London under Dr Ben Hartley who CAN perform the surgery before he is 3! Mr Abdelkader feels it is in Teddys best interests to get this surgery out of the way as soon as possible to limit further issues, and unfortunately at present it can be years if we were to wait on the NHS. Owing to the issues we have already experienced with our GP and Broomfield hospital, private is the only way forward to get our boy the help he desperately needs!

Today ( 21st October ) I have received a phone call from The Portland notifying us that they can see Teddy next week, and he is currently provisionally pencilled in to have the surgery next month!

This unfortunately comes at a cost, the ENT appointment on Saturday alone cost £200.00! However; to see Dr Hartley next week for an initial appointment is £390.00, this is without the additional cost of ( at present ) £5110.00 to perform the surgery/surgeries. £3000.00 of this is just for a “day case” stay whilst Teddys is there! Unfortunately, as he cannot be operated on at our first choice of private hospital, all chances we had of paying monthly for his surgery has been squashed! This now means we have to pay Teddys surgery in full before admission, which as you can imagine is proving to be VERY difficult!

Now, this is where we reach out to you all.. a lot of people have asked me to set up this go fund me so they can help support us to fund Teddys surgery, and we have received a wealth of support from you all. If we can raise even just a few hundred pounds to go towards Teddys surgery, any little helps! So here it is.. Teddys go fund me!

Danny and I want to thank you all for your amazing support and generosity in advance, we appreciate it more than you know!

Let’s get our baby better ❤️