Kaiden Morandini Medical Relief
Donation protected
Kaiden is the son of Adam and Amanda Morandini. Both Adam and Amanda work with me at Advanced Care. Their son Kaiden has had a rough start to his young life. He is going to be 2 on January 29th but I you saw this little fellow you would be surprised to find out he is more along the size of a 1 year old. While pregnant with Kaiden his mother Amanda had multiple health complications which contributed to Kaiden becoming intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR). Because of the IUGR he was born full term but only weighed 4 pounds. Since birth he has ALWAYS had a really hard time gaining weight. They have tired tons of different higher calorie formulas without much success. In addition to not gaining weight he has a really hard time holding anything down and therefore he has not been receiving the appropriate amount of nutrition and calories. They began to see a GI at Children's Hospital of Michigan to help with Kaiden’s inability to eat.
They’ve tired feeding therapy thinking maybe he didn't know how to eat correctly but that only caused him to lose more weight. He's had two upper scopes, one lower scope, a swallow study, a gastric emptying study, and tons of blood work. It was determined that he has gastroparesis (stomach doesn't empty properly), acid reflex, and a heighten gag reflex. Which all play into why he pukes so much. For the past month or so now he's been losing weight. He is now under the first percentile so he's considered failure to thrive. Since he isn't gaining weight and he's been losing so much the GI is worried that if they don't do something right away it could cause permanent damage to Kaiden organs or developmentally so they've decided to place a feeding tube that goes directly into the belly. They are hopeful that they put the formula directly in his belly that he will gain weight better. Once the tube is placed he is going to be seen by endocrinology to see if there is another underlying issue causing him not to absorb the food correctly. On December 28, 2015 Kaiden had his feeding tube put in.
The medical bills are mounting up from his continuous care during 2015 Michigan doesn’t require insurance companies to cover enteral products so at $180 for a case of 6 cans, you can imagine how that will add up when a can will last at best 2.5 days. With the feeding tube there are now a bunch of new expenses that come with the tube, special pads, belts, g tub pads etc. Which of course only some are covered by the insurance. Added medical care and procedures means more missed work for Adam and Amanda which only compounds the financial burden . . . and then the family car died and required a new engine.
While family has helped them through Christmas and the initial burdens of their challenges their situation is beyond their means. Adam has been my most trusted and loyal employee since he started working under me 9 years ago. These are good people going through a tough time and I am hoping that our community of friends and family can help out a hard working family during their time of need.
If you can find it in your heart to help out it will be greatly appreciated by Kaiden, his parents and me.
They’ve tired feeding therapy thinking maybe he didn't know how to eat correctly but that only caused him to lose more weight. He's had two upper scopes, one lower scope, a swallow study, a gastric emptying study, and tons of blood work. It was determined that he has gastroparesis (stomach doesn't empty properly), acid reflex, and a heighten gag reflex. Which all play into why he pukes so much. For the past month or so now he's been losing weight. He is now under the first percentile so he's considered failure to thrive. Since he isn't gaining weight and he's been losing so much the GI is worried that if they don't do something right away it could cause permanent damage to Kaiden organs or developmentally so they've decided to place a feeding tube that goes directly into the belly. They are hopeful that they put the formula directly in his belly that he will gain weight better. Once the tube is placed he is going to be seen by endocrinology to see if there is another underlying issue causing him not to absorb the food correctly. On December 28, 2015 Kaiden had his feeding tube put in.
The medical bills are mounting up from his continuous care during 2015 Michigan doesn’t require insurance companies to cover enteral products so at $180 for a case of 6 cans, you can imagine how that will add up when a can will last at best 2.5 days. With the feeding tube there are now a bunch of new expenses that come with the tube, special pads, belts, g tub pads etc. Which of course only some are covered by the insurance. Added medical care and procedures means more missed work for Adam and Amanda which only compounds the financial burden . . . and then the family car died and required a new engine.
While family has helped them through Christmas and the initial burdens of their challenges their situation is beyond their means. Adam has been my most trusted and loyal employee since he started working under me 9 years ago. These are good people going through a tough time and I am hoping that our community of friends and family can help out a hard working family during their time of need.
If you can find it in your heart to help out it will be greatly appreciated by Kaiden, his parents and me.
Organizer and beneficiary
Matthew Knutson
Organizer
Utica, MI
Adam Morandini
Beneficiary