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Patient Stories

The CHOC Feeding Program offers a comprehensive, positive and holistic approach in a child and family-centered environment. We do everything possible to make our hospital a home away from home during inpatient treatment, so childhood doesn’t have to be put on pause.

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Our Feeding Program Patients

CHOC feeding patient Jack eats dinner
Jack’s Story
CHOC feeding patient Layla after program
Layla’s Story
CHOC feeding patient Pacer enjoying vacation
Pacer’s Story

Pacer's Story

Before coming to CHOC, Pacer Lybbert had never eaten a Cheerio, a piece of toast or even a spoonful of yogurt. He was almost 4 and had never enjoyed birthday cake, Halloween candy or a Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Since birth, Pacer had received almost all of his nutrition through a feeding tube.

  Read the rest of Pacer’s story.

His parents, Quinn and Mekell, had resigned themselves to the possibility that Pacer would need a feeding tube for life. Then, they met a little boy near their new home in Montana who had been successfully treated for a similar problem at the CHOC Feeding Program.

Watch Pacer’s parents’ testimonial.

CHOC patient Pacer was only able to eat 5% of his nutrition by mouth and had been fed by a feeding tube for most of his life. The family wished that Pacer would one day be able to eat with his brothers and no longer require the feeding tube. That wish came true after participating in the CHOC Children's Feeding Program, where a group of dedicated professionals led by Dr. Mitchell Katz, Medical Director of the CHOC Gastroenterology & Nutrition Program, all worked together so one little boy could learn to eat. For the first time in 3 years, Pacer now receives all of his nutrition by mouth.
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