Aid Matheus's Recovery: Support for His Family

Hello, My name is Jasmin and I am one of Matheus’s aunts and sister-in-law to parents, Jessica and Eric.

For those of you who may not know, Jessica received a call early Friday morning 8/23 from her pediatrician with urgent instruction to take Matheus into the CHLA ER. He was then sent that same day to the ICU where he was most recently transferred to the Hematology department with no set discharge date as of yet.

It all started with a follow-up visit with his pediatrician a week prior when they noticed he was more pale than usual and had lost some weight. He was sent to get lab work. Results came back Friday morning where the pediatrician noticed his labs were showing his body in high distress.

Matheus & family had COVID in late July/early August and at that time as well, all his 4 molars were also growing and during that time he was in discomfort, very fussy, and didn't want anything but his bottle - which was his comfort mechanism. Well, little did we know at the time that too much milk caused him to be iron deficient because milk doesn't have iron and didn't provide all the nutrients in his body he needed. It caused his hemoglobin and iron levels to get super low that it was putting him in a dangerous state where his body was not producing enough red blood cells anymore and he almost had little to no blood left in his body and his body was struggling to function.

With countless numbers of different tests, lab work, urinalysis- They have ruled his main diagnosis to iron deficiency anemia.

Matheus has had 3 blood transfusions and 1 iron infusion & They are still currently admitted with more tests pending to further rule out any underlying causes, blood disorders, cancers, kidney problems, etc.

Jessica and Eric currently have split homes as Jessica stays in the hospital to take care of Matheus; while Eric stays home with their additional children to care for them, causing them both to continue to miss work.

I would love to provide some help for them as medical expenses are starting to add up for them as their days are extended to help with meals, gas expenses back and forth to the hospital for current and future visits, parking in and out of the hospital for both their current stay and future follow-up visits as well as to help them with any future medical bills that may arise.

Any donation to their family would be greatly appreciated and would help significantly help keep the family at ease while they focus their attention and efforts to Matheus’s recovery.