A BC mother excited to bring her 11-year-old tube-fed son to class on Thursday had to bring him home immediately because a lack of communication left onerous policies in effect.Michelle Tory, of Ladner, BC has been lobbying for weeks ever since policies by Nursing Support Services (NSS) made it impractical for her son Jaxton to be tube-fed at school. Tory and other parents were required to give a detailed recipe for meals administered at school with weights and ingredients. The amount of hydration allowed in each syringe was also limited to one-sixth of her son's normal needs.An online petition to Sarah Bell, Chief Operating Officer at BC Children's Hospital (BBCH) received 1,406 signatures asking that the new requirements be lifted for school settings..BC parents of disabled children frantic over new requirements on tube feeding.Tory said the BC Complex Care Society notified her that her advocacy had prevailed and that the proposed changes had been reversed. She was told to look for changes in the policies to be posted online. Late afternoon Wednesday, Tory noticed an update."The care plan that they had posted in August that was supposed to be implemented was ten pages, and it's now back to the previous two pages. So that tells you they scrapped eight pages of ridiculous things," Tory told Western Standard Thursday.Tory assumed all was well and went to Facebook to share the good news."I am SOOOO HAPPY to share that Jaxton can officially start school tomorrow!" she wrote. "The ministry of health has sent health authorities across BC notice to pause the new orders, and BCCH [BC Children's Hospital] will be adjusting their documents and enforcement."Tory told Western Standard that she and her child went to school Thursday morning with joy, only to find out they had to return home."The one particular thing that we were fighting against, the recipe requirement, that is still listed there," Tory said.In previous years, a doctor could offer an exemption from the requirement. Although Tory was told this ability had been restored, she said the school had not been notified."They haven't been instructed to still give us exemptions," Tory said. "The news was lost somewhere, so we're not done. There's confusion right now. I was literally on the phone for over two hours this morning calling everyone I could think of."For the past ten years, Tory has put food in a blender for her son without issues. She feeds him similar food to his younger sibling, only unblended.BCCH refused a previous request for comment from Western Standard, saying inquiries should be redirected to the provincial ministry of health. Tory said the review of NSS is wider than issues of tube feeding and involves 56 different "partners at the table." The mother said it would mean "everything" to her to have her child back in school again, but "victory" was slow to manifest."I don't understand how in this day and age of emails we can communicate so quickly across the world and yet people can't communicate within their jobs," Tory said. "This happened yesterday. Why can't our kids be in school today and this information be shared?"
A BC mother excited to bring her 11-year-old tube-fed son to class on Thursday had to bring him home immediately because a lack of communication left onerous policies in effect.Michelle Tory, of Ladner, BC has been lobbying for weeks ever since policies by Nursing Support Services (NSS) made it impractical for her son Jaxton to be tube-fed at school. Tory and other parents were required to give a detailed recipe for meals administered at school with weights and ingredients. The amount of hydration allowed in each syringe was also limited to one-sixth of her son's normal needs.An online petition to Sarah Bell, Chief Operating Officer at BC Children's Hospital (BBCH) received 1,406 signatures asking that the new requirements be lifted for school settings..BC parents of disabled children frantic over new requirements on tube feeding.Tory said the BC Complex Care Society notified her that her advocacy had prevailed and that the proposed changes had been reversed. She was told to look for changes in the policies to be posted online. Late afternoon Wednesday, Tory noticed an update."The care plan that they had posted in August that was supposed to be implemented was ten pages, and it's now back to the previous two pages. So that tells you they scrapped eight pages of ridiculous things," Tory told Western Standard Thursday.Tory assumed all was well and went to Facebook to share the good news."I am SOOOO HAPPY to share that Jaxton can officially start school tomorrow!" she wrote. "The ministry of health has sent health authorities across BC notice to pause the new orders, and BCCH [BC Children's Hospital] will be adjusting their documents and enforcement."Tory told Western Standard that she and her child went to school Thursday morning with joy, only to find out they had to return home."The one particular thing that we were fighting against, the recipe requirement, that is still listed there," Tory said.In previous years, a doctor could offer an exemption from the requirement. Although Tory was told this ability had been restored, she said the school had not been notified."They haven't been instructed to still give us exemptions," Tory said. "The news was lost somewhere, so we're not done. There's confusion right now. I was literally on the phone for over two hours this morning calling everyone I could think of."For the past ten years, Tory has put food in a blender for her son without issues. She feeds him similar food to his younger sibling, only unblended.BCCH refused a previous request for comment from Western Standard, saying inquiries should be redirected to the provincial ministry of health. Tory said the review of NSS is wider than issues of tube feeding and involves 56 different "partners at the table." The mother said it would mean "everything" to her to have her child back in school again, but "victory" was slow to manifest."I don't understand how in this day and age of emails we can communicate so quickly across the world and yet people can't communicate within their jobs," Tory said. "This happened yesterday. Why can't our kids be in school today and this information be shared?"
