Please help the Paul family!
Donation protected
This is Ben and Nicole Paul's son Gage. He is 9 years old and currently at Boston Children's hospital fighting for his life...
On Thursday, January 15, Gage woke up complaining of a sore throat, Nicole sent him to school becaues he seemed fine otherwise. At 12:00pm they received a phone call from their sons school claiming that Gage had a small fever and was complaining of a sore throat. They picked him up at 1pm. Ben left for work at 2:30 and Gage was on the couch with his blanket watching tv. At this point Gage's temp. had risen to 102.3 and around 4 he was crying that his throat hurt really badly, and his temp was still climbing. It had now reached 103.7 and he had started to develop a cough, and thew up a few times from coughing. Nicole had gone to pick up some cough medicine at 7 and by the time she arrived back home his cough now sounded like a dog and his breathing seemed way off and he said that it felt like something was in his throat. It was now around 7:30, she called Ben to let him know that she was taking Gage to the ER.
When they arrived at the Wentworth Douglas ER, Gage was brought in and right away started treating him for the flu and dehydration. From there he quickly started to get worse and he was admitted for the night. At 2am on Friday the Dr's took some X-Rays to see how his lungs were looking, and at that time they were clear. Later that morning (around 4am) they put in oxygen tubes to help his abnormal breathing, and took some more X-Rays to see if anything had changed. This time they found Pneumonia. At this point the Dr's were very concerned and were unable to care for him any further.
They sedated him and intubated him (put him on a vent) and called an ambulance to come transfer him down to Boston Children's hospital.
On arrival to Boston they kept him sedated so they could get him squared away in his new environment. He at no point has been stable but he was staying consistent. They conducted more x-rays and by this point the Pneumonia had filled his right lung and started taking over his left lung. At this time they had suspicion of a possible bacterial infection. As the day and night went on Gage continued to get worse.
First thing Saturday morning they attempted to put him on a more aggressive oxygen machine. They quickly had to unhook him as it was putting to much stress on his lungs and heart. They decided to put him on a machine called ECMO. This machine is to bypass his lungs and heart so they can hopefully heal. He has given us a couple scares while on this machine. His blood pressure has completely dropped off but they were able to get him back on track before anything worse had happened.
As of Sunday, January 18, the most recent X-Ray's have shown that the Pneumonia has completely taken over both of his lungs.
They are still trying to find the exact bacterial infection that started this mess. He is still not stable but is accepting the ECMO machine for now.
The ECMO machine is takingblood from a 1/2" incision in his groin and oxygenizing it and warms or cools it(depending on what his body needs) to keep his temp at ease and returns it to his body in a large hole in his neck letting his lungs and heart rest. This machine is the last chance / option to keep him alive.
The doctors are saying if everything goes as "planned" he will need the assistance of this machine for 2+ weeks. After then he will be maintained on a feeding tube and the ventilator until he is able to breathe again. He will have a long road to recovery.
We are asking all of our friends, family, and anyone else who may be reading this to please just take a moment to say a prayer for Gage and for his family. They all need strength, love and support. They have a very long and emotional road ahead of them. It has only been a few days since this all started and they have been on a roller coaster ride that no parent should ever have to experience. Please find it in your heart to donate even just a little bit of money to help this family out. Any small amount counts, and will help them get through this very tough time. It is unimaginable the pain they are going through having to be in a hospital with their baby boy night and day, and where everything is touch and go they cannot go far. They are staying in a hotel that is right next door so that they are not far from him. We all know that Boston is very costly and any support that we can provide will be greatly appreciated by them and help them more than imaginable.
Thank you all for taking the time to read Gage's story and for your prayers and support!
On Thursday, January 15, Gage woke up complaining of a sore throat, Nicole sent him to school becaues he seemed fine otherwise. At 12:00pm they received a phone call from their sons school claiming that Gage had a small fever and was complaining of a sore throat. They picked him up at 1pm. Ben left for work at 2:30 and Gage was on the couch with his blanket watching tv. At this point Gage's temp. had risen to 102.3 and around 4 he was crying that his throat hurt really badly, and his temp was still climbing. It had now reached 103.7 and he had started to develop a cough, and thew up a few times from coughing. Nicole had gone to pick up some cough medicine at 7 and by the time she arrived back home his cough now sounded like a dog and his breathing seemed way off and he said that it felt like something was in his throat. It was now around 7:30, she called Ben to let him know that she was taking Gage to the ER.
When they arrived at the Wentworth Douglas ER, Gage was brought in and right away started treating him for the flu and dehydration. From there he quickly started to get worse and he was admitted for the night. At 2am on Friday the Dr's took some X-Rays to see how his lungs were looking, and at that time they were clear. Later that morning (around 4am) they put in oxygen tubes to help his abnormal breathing, and took some more X-Rays to see if anything had changed. This time they found Pneumonia. At this point the Dr's were very concerned and were unable to care for him any further.
They sedated him and intubated him (put him on a vent) and called an ambulance to come transfer him down to Boston Children's hospital.
On arrival to Boston they kept him sedated so they could get him squared away in his new environment. He at no point has been stable but he was staying consistent. They conducted more x-rays and by this point the Pneumonia had filled his right lung and started taking over his left lung. At this time they had suspicion of a possible bacterial infection. As the day and night went on Gage continued to get worse.
First thing Saturday morning they attempted to put him on a more aggressive oxygen machine. They quickly had to unhook him as it was putting to much stress on his lungs and heart. They decided to put him on a machine called ECMO. This machine is to bypass his lungs and heart so they can hopefully heal. He has given us a couple scares while on this machine. His blood pressure has completely dropped off but they were able to get him back on track before anything worse had happened.
As of Sunday, January 18, the most recent X-Ray's have shown that the Pneumonia has completely taken over both of his lungs.
They are still trying to find the exact bacterial infection that started this mess. He is still not stable but is accepting the ECMO machine for now.
The ECMO machine is takingblood from a 1/2" incision in his groin and oxygenizing it and warms or cools it(depending on what his body needs) to keep his temp at ease and returns it to his body in a large hole in his neck letting his lungs and heart rest. This machine is the last chance / option to keep him alive.
The doctors are saying if everything goes as "planned" he will need the assistance of this machine for 2+ weeks. After then he will be maintained on a feeding tube and the ventilator until he is able to breathe again. He will have a long road to recovery.
We are asking all of our friends, family, and anyone else who may be reading this to please just take a moment to say a prayer for Gage and for his family. They all need strength, love and support. They have a very long and emotional road ahead of them. It has only been a few days since this all started and they have been on a roller coaster ride that no parent should ever have to experience. Please find it in your heart to donate even just a little bit of money to help this family out. Any small amount counts, and will help them get through this very tough time. It is unimaginable the pain they are going through having to be in a hospital with their baby boy night and day, and where everything is touch and go they cannot go far. They are staying in a hotel that is right next door so that they are not far from him. We all know that Boston is very costly and any support that we can provide will be greatly appreciated by them and help them more than imaginable.
Thank you all for taking the time to read Gage's story and for your prayers and support!
Organizer
Michael Cayer
Organizer
Greenland, NH
