Fundraising for Oscar's Physio Vest

Oscar was born on the 31st of July 2016 with 2 faulty genes, 1 from each of his parents. Me (his mumma) and his Daddy. He was born with Cystic Fibrosis, the gene mutation is DDF508 - unfortunately this is considered the worst mutation of CF. So far Oscar's short life has had some massive ups and sadly some massive downs. Hes already fought battles no child should have to fight and has many more ahead of him.

One of our current battles with him is Physiotherapy, people with CF require a good physiotherapy regime to help them to clear the thick sticky mucus of their lungs. Thus stopping bugs making home in their lungs and damage to the lungs. Unfortunately for us Oscar does not tolerate what is currently his only option of physiotherapy - his PEP. We cant continue to go on without anything other than some manual physiotherapy (percussion) as it just doesn't cut it.

As a little baby Oscar was absolutely fine with doing his PEP mask treatments. Since his last hospital admission however its been a totally different story. Oscar gets himself so stressed out and worked up with the PEP Mast that he ends up passing out from holding his breath, hyperventilating (at times) and the impressive fight he puts up... very quickly within no more than a couple of minutes of beginning the treatment, I might add. This as you can imagine is just something we can't put him through, its not right or ok. With support from his team we have tried so many different things and ways to try and get him to accept his PEP Mask but unfortunately he just wont, not even for a second!

Like all CFer's Oscar needs a good physiotherapy treatment in place as part of his daily routine. Currently the only way he's getting any is through manual percussion, this just isn't suffice for him though and doesn't have the effects on him it needs too. Manual physio is something I do day and night with Oscar, I can at times spend hours doing it, trying to help him to clear the mucus that's stuck on his chest off. This never really seems to do a lot for him we get the odd cough but nothing much at all, which is why we need to add the Hill-Rom Airway Clearance Vest into his treatments.

The Vest can work absolute wonders and will dramatically cut down the time I spend doing manual physio with him, although I will of course still do the percussion too. The Vest will provide him with a much better chance of clearing that thick sticky mucus that cloggs up CFer's lungs, and actually enable him to be getting a more intense physio treatment multiple times a day. It will also shorten the treatment time for him. Some nights for example I am up with Oscar for hours doing Physio, that could easily be cut down to 10 mintues by using the Vest.

Not only is the Vest for now, it's for his future too. It will grow with him and be something he will use for the rest of his life. The key to a CFer's future is good treatments and therapy's at all times not just when they are poorly, to keep them as well as physically possible and give them the best chance of a long life we can.

The Vest will not only be a life changing piece of equipment for Oscar but for us his parents too. It will provide us with consistence, peace of mind and so much more. In our eyes it is an essential part of a CFer's treatment. We see Vests used throughout many other developed countries, just not ours due to funding and 'lack of evidence as to why they are worthwhile' over here. Every single day we see great results from fellow CF Families who have the Vests, most of which as their main treatment, I'm yet to come across anyone who doesn't sing it's praises.

Using the Vest will be far more bearable and fun for Oscar , less restrictive too. We also believe it will be far less invasive for him. I mean I now I wouldn't be happy about someone holding a mask to my face, making it harder for me to breath and being held down all at once... would you?

we will be doing as much as we can between now and July 2018 to fund this vest with the goal of having it around Oscar's 2nd Birthday. They recommend you start the Vest at the age of 2, this is so that the lungs are more developed for it.

Every penny you donate will be going towards Oscar's vest and anything left over if were lucky will go to helping others with CF or Oscar directly or the CF Trust.

We have a big target to hit and just shy of a year to do it in, if you cn help please, please do! Help a little boy breath easy, be less restricted and gt the treatment he so desperately needs.

Lastly we'd like to thank everyone who helps us in anyway towards our goal, whether that is by: donating, fundraising, sharing this, sharing his page, telling your friends, coming along to our fundraisers, donating prizes or materials to us, or even fundraising for us yourselves. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and will be forever grateful for your support.

Follow Oscar here: www.facebook.com/oscarscfstory