Join us as we celebrate wins, big and small, for families facing PFD! We start with the Benzing Family. Brandon and Paula Benzing spoke at the 2019 Community Luncheon, sharing their daughter Penny’s journey. Enjoy this update and see what Penny has accomplished in the last two years.

“When it comes to PFD…any accomplishment (no matter how small) is a BIG WIN. My family has been through several wins over the past 5 years and Feeding Matters has been with us every step of the way!” – Paula Benzing, mother to Penny

• Although scary at the time, we made the decision to forego the NG tube and get Penny a G-tube
• We no longer had to use the feeding pump and went straight to bolus feeding
• We finally figured out what formula works best with Penny’s sensitive tummy
• With the help of Feeding Matters and a wonderful feeding therapist, we blended our own food to feed to Penny through her syringe
• Penny slowly but constantly started gaining weight
• Penny was no longer throwing up constantly!!!
• Although this seemed like such a long process… Penny started exploring new foods with touching, licking, and smelling
• Penny tried new foods a little more each day
• Penny ate a little more each day
• We hadn’t used Penny’s G-tube in over 3 months
• We hadn’t used Penny’s G-tube in over 9 months
• With GI approval we took Penny’s G-tube out for good
• Mom and Dad (Paula and Brandon) began volunteering for Feeding Matters to give back
• Paula began volunteering as a family coach for the Power of Two program to help others with the same struggles as herself and Penny
• Penny turned 5 and no one would ever know that she had any signs of PFD in the past!

Thank you for letting us celebrate with you, Benzing Family!