Two-year-old Zoe Fisher's family is hoping Matthew Drake can receive everything on his Christmas wish list.
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Should this come true, the Fishers will be able to spend more time together at home as a family.
Zoe has been one of the inspirations behind Grampians Health launching its at-home paediatric program. Only, Zoe's needs have been too high for the equipment Grampians Health has available to support the region.
Mr Drake, Grampians Health's paediatric navigator, has oxygen equipment high on his wish list. He needs tools suitable for helping children like Zoe at home before her condition deteriorates and for when she is improving enough to leave hospital a little early.
Zoe, who turns three in February, has complex health needs including a couple of heart and lung conditions and musculoskeletal concerns.
She spent eight of her first 11 months of life in hospital and often is admitted for lengthy stays, bouncing between Grampians Health Ballarat Base Hospital and the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
Zoe's elder sister Avril always worries when Zoe is not home.
Their mum Rebekah Fisher said a Grampians Health Ballarat Christmas fundraising appeal to raise money for more at-home paediatric equipment could be life-changing for her family.
"People don't always expect how expensive it can be to have a child in hospital with the cost of travel and not being able to work. Zoe also has a four-year-old sister who adores and loves her and gets quite anxious when Zoe's not at home," Ms Fisher said.
"It's important to keep families together and to strengthen community ties.
"...We have respiratory equipment at home but not oxygen and that's what she often needs. If the hospital is supporting Zoe early in her illness at home, then she gets less sick, and if she has to go to hospital she can be home sooner."
Mr Drake understands what the Fishers are experiencing firsthand.
He has two children who were born early and needed lots of medical stays in Melbourne, often needing the family to split on top of the pressures in finding food and accommodation.
There are similar at-home paediatric programs run out of the Royal Children's and Monash hospitals to prevent the need for families to always come into hospital. Grampians Health's program is one of the first in regional Victoria and has started to expand across the whole region, including to families in St Arnaud.
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped to make this more possible.
"We started working on this pre-COVID on building a case study for keeping young patients at home...coming out the other side of COVID helped strengthen the case that this work could be done at home," Mr Drake said.
"...It all comes down to a child's condition and what they need. If there are any doubts on their safety we say no and get the child to hospital. We hope to capture patients like Zoe early, then when they become too unwell they can go to hospital.
"Families and mums like Rebekah know their children way better than we do and know when their child's condition is deteriorating but might be sent home from hospital because they are not unwell enough at the time. At that stage, we can take over care and bridge that gap."
The program has saved 120 admissions and more than 3000 kilometres for 50 patients and their families in travel in 2023.
At-home patients have been aged from four weeks to 17.5 years old.
Mr Drake said patients have included a blood test for a child, who has learning difficulties, at school so she did not have to miss extra class time to go to a clinic or hospital. He said routines were important to children.
Mr Drake has a spreadsheet labelled My Christmas Wish List, tallying about $35,000 for an ideal boost. But every dollar donation can make an impact for Grampians Health Ballarat.
To make a tax-deductible donation click this link, or scan the QR code below.
