The EA/TEF Family Support Connection was formed by and for families of children born with (Esophageal Atresia and Tracheoesophageal Fistula) EA/TEF and the medical professionals who treat them. We are dedicated to providing educational resources as well as emotional and practical support to aid in the daily care of our medically fragile children.

Welcome

Welcome to the EA/TEF Family Support Connection.

We developed this web site to help you learn as much as possible to understand Esophageal Atresia/Tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF). We have included a non-technical description of EA/TEF, along with lists of support groups and publications that can assist you in your search for knowledge.


Discussion forums back online

After a very long outage, the discussion forums are back online. Thanks for your patience.

Discussion forum logins still broken

Hi all,

Logging in to our discussion forums had been broken for quite some time (months!). I was finally able to track down the problem(s), and you should now be able to log in again. (I'm still working out the kinks.) Please email matt at eatef.org if you need help or if you notice something broken.

Sorry for the long outage!

-Matt

Update from organization founder Sandi

Sandi, who created this organization twenty-six years ago, recently wrote in with an update about her daughter, and some words of encouragement for others. Thank you, Sandi, for helping and inspiring so many people by getting this going!

Nationwide Children's Hospital research survey

Nationwide Children's Hospital, in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Surgery is conducting research related to the care of children with esophageal atresia and tracheo-esophageal fistula. The study examines issues related to transition of care (from pediatric to adult health care providers) and consists of a single, web-based survey for parents (and even older adolescent / young adult patients). The survey length varies depending on clinical history, but time to complete all questions should be less than 15 minutes.

Sonoma Academy student's guest at school: Surgeon who operated on him as newborn

Here's an update from Dr. Foker's second patient, Logan Ebert, who was also featured in one of our original 'Family Stories'. They are extremely pleased with the results from Dr. Foker, and are eager to share their story:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130825/articles/130829693

UW-Madison Study Published

A big "Thank You" to all who participated in the University of Wisconsin-Madison questionnaire. Your participation helps the medical community better understand the need for long-term care, especially with respect to reflux. The results were recently published, and can be seen at the following link:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26692337

Special thanks to Shannon Struckmeyer for initiating this survey.

Abigail's Smile

Ami Hays wrote this children's book about EA/TEF for all of you to have a book in your home that your child can understand about EA/TEF. The illustrations and short story open up the conversation and allow your child, there siblings, and friends to see who a EA/TEF child is. It can be purchased below and funds raised go to EA/TEF! https://www.createspace.com/3933713

An EA/TEF Story Inside And Out

http://www.eatefbooks.com
Every year when school starts, parents get anxious about how to "explain" their EA/TEF child to their community at school.

Vanessa Munsch created "An EA/TEF Story Inside And Out" to ease that conversation. The story is framed within a "Sharing Time," which is a moment when children get to share something about themselves in front of their class.

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