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.

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.

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.