It's Rhys Frampton's first year of kindy but frequent bouts of tonsillitis means the Flinders boy is missing much of his important first year of school.
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The six-year-old suffers from enlarged tonsils and adenoids, which causes him difficulty in breathing and sleeping at night and often makes it hard for him to swallow.
Surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids is the one of the most common operations performed on children in Australia.
It's elective surgery and Rhys' mum Lindy is desperate for him to have it done but there are barriers.
She's been told long waiting lists would mean more than a 12-month wait for publicly funded surgery. And while she's got private health cover, the single mother cannot afford to pay the upfront gap fee.
"I don't know where to turn," Mrs Frampton said. "I've struggled to pay for private health insurance since my husband died from cancer two years ago.
"I've rung 17 ear, nose and throat surgeons and they all charge a consultation fee of around $200 and then require an upfront gap fee for the surgery of anywhere from $600 to $1600.
"My health insurance provider has a gap-free program but none of the ENT specialists in this region participate in that.
"The system needs to change as there must be so many families and children in similar situations who just have to postpone or go without treatment."
Mrs Frampton said her son could not go another year or more without surgery.
"He's had episodes of tonsillitis on and off but it's really been exacerbated this year and he's getting it every two or three weeks," she said.
"His tonsils are constantly covered in pus because antibiotics are no longer working and his throat is red raw and sore and causes him a lot of discomfort.
"He's getting migraines and vomiting, and at night if he rolls over onto the back his airway becomes blocked and he has difficulty breathing. Swallowing too is often a problem and he can choke even when swallowing water or his own spit."
Mrs Frampton said Rhys' GP has told her he needs the operation, and has written to specialists on her behalf, explaining her financial difficulties.
"I am a casual worker and there's no work for four weeks over Christmas so I'm trying to get some assistance to cover my rent," she said.
"I am on a website for Australian and overseas widows and I was saying that I'd have to tell Rhys there was so Santa Claus so he didn't think he was naughty when he got no presents this year.
"Widows from Australia, the US and the UK have sent me presents for him which is so amazing."
Now Mrs Frampton is hoping there's a specialist who can waive or let her pay off the gap fee to give Rhys the best present yet.
A fundraising page has been set up for the Frampton family - click here to donate.
Nearly 5000 people are ready and waiting for elective surgery at hospitals in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, according to figures released this week.
Almost 1350 of those are waiting for ophthalmology; just over 1000 need orthopaedic surgery while 869 of them are desperate for ear, nose and throat surgery.
The number of patients on the waiting list is up 10per cent on the same quarter last year, according to the Bureau of Health Information’s (BHI) latest quarterly report.
The figures for July to September 2014 show that 3246 elective surgery procedures were carried out at hospitals across the district, with 1488 of those done at Wollongong Hospital.
Ninety-eight per cent of patients received elective surgery on time in all categories, with 100per cent of urgent cases performed on time.
There was an average wait of 10days for urgent elective surgery. However, those needing semi-urgent elective surgery had to wait an average of 62 days and non-urgent cases were forced to wait up to 12 months.
The top five elective specialities undertaken were general surgery, ophthalmology, urology, orthopaedic surgery and ear, nose and throat surgery. Cataract extraction, cystoscopy and tonsillectomy were the top three most common procedures.
While there’s always room for improvement, the figures represent a marked improvement from four years ago. In July to September 2010, the BHI figures showed just 90per cent of patients received elective surgery on time in all categories, while only 84per cent of urgent cases were performed on time.
BHI chief executive Dr Jean-Frederic Levesque said statewide more than 58,000elective surgeries were performed in July to September 2014, up 1per cent on the same quarter last year.
- LISA WACHSMUTH
