Matisse's major milestone

What began as "a regular check-up" ended in a major break-through in the recovery of Napier girl Matisse Reid, who has been in and out of hospitals her whole life.

This week Matisse's mother Jodee wrote in an online journal that her daughter no longer needed intravenous hydration.

"It occurred to me that this is the day we have waited for - 10 years, 11 months to be exact. This is a huge accomplishment to not have to administer anything into Matisse's permanent IV line."

Matisse, 10, was born with chronic pseudo intestinal obstruction, a rare disease, which meant she was unable to eat and had to be fed through a tube.

In 2007, her family packed up their Napier home and moved to Pittsburgh in the US, so Matisse could wait in line for a much-needed operation. Last December, she underwent a stomach, duodenum, pancreas, small and large bowel transplant.

Post-transplant she could keep a little food down and was reduced to 200ml of IV fluid three times a week, a "far cry" from almost four litres of TPN which she required daily beforehand.

Now, after initial complications, Matisse has successfully been off IV hydration for more than a week.