Tamesia has become a familiar name here at Youngcare – a young woman we first met in 2020 when her Mum and carer, Bronwyn reached out for a grant to renovate their home for Tamesia’s accessibility needs.
Four years on and Tamesia’s family are still benefiting from their original grant, and in addition, have found even more freedom through further support from Youngcare.
Affectionately known as Meesie, she is now almost 31 years-old and still living at home with the loving support of her parents.
Meesie’s complex disabilities make her high risk of being moved into somewhere inappropriate, like an institution or aged care. Thanks to Youngcare supporters and the home modifications in 2020, Bronwyn has been able to keep Meesie at home as she wishes.
Over the last few years Meesie’s condition has deteriorated after an incredibly traumatic medical scare.
Meesie is peg-fed, which means a tube connects to her stomach and provides her with the nutrients that she needs. A few years ago, Meesie was spending the night at a respite centre and was left unattended during her feed. A piece of her feeding tube went missing and Bronwyn feared Meesie may have swallowed it,
“We said, ‘could she have it in her mouth?’ Because everything goes to her mouth. And they said no, no, it’s not there.”
For two years Meesie was very ill – fevers, fatigue and hospital admissions became very frequent. Meesie’s doctors assumed her deterioration was a natural progression in her condition, which has never been formally diagnosed.
However, Bronwyn’s ‘motherly instinct’ was strong; she knew something more sinister was at play. She fought for an endoscopy, but as Meesie was high risk, she could not get a referral.
Finally, a specialist performed an endoscopy and shockingly discovered the lost piece of the feeding tube from two years prior had been lodged in Meesie’s esophagus.
The tube was successfully removed, but Meesie has never been the same.
“When she came out of the theatre, they brought out a little sample jar and here was the end of her tube, found about halfway down her esophagus.
She’s really not been herself ever since that episode”.
After a traumatic couple of years, and worsening health conditions of their own, Meesie’s parents have enlisted some extra support to care for their daughter. They accessed a fantastic team of support workers to care for Meesie overnight, however had nowhere for them to sleep.
“Previously we had a sofa bed, but it broke. We asked the NDIS but they would not fund a new one.”
And so, a simple At Home Care Grant to fund a new sofa bed for Meesie’s overnight support team was all it took for Bronwyn to have a little rest.
It may not sound like much, but for a family who has fallen on tough times, a few thousand dollars for some vital furniture makes a huge difference.
“The grants are so good, just a sofa bed can make such a difference for our family and our support team. It’s a couch during the day, and then at night it is a bed in less than a minute.”
Bronwyn would like to share some words of wisdom and thanks…
Words of wisdom for people who need support:
“Don’t be too afraid to ask. For years we were not the kind of people to ask for help. But it gets to the point that everything to do with disability costs a lot. My advice? Make sure you ask for help.”
Words of thanks for the people who do the supporting:
“Thank you! Thank you for all your support.
I know some people even support through gruelling challenges, and it is amazing that they volunteer to do that. To help people that may not have what they have, people who may not have legs that can walk…we are grateful.”
