This story is about Lucas. He was born 10 lbs 9 ounces 21.5 inches long on July 15th, 2025. Perfectly healthy and the cutest little guy I ever did see. (I'm the super proud Aunt!) He was the second child of Brian & Ashley, completing the perfect family of big sister Olivia (5) and now little brother. Taking time off work to settle into the new life of a family of 4, things seemed to be going wonderfully. He was a content baby, loved sleeping and snuggling and was prone to grab tightly on to his dad's beard at any given moment. He was strong, moving his head around much more than I remember any infant doing. He was, well, perfect (or at least, in my eyes).

Exactly one month later, he was fussy and not eating and things just didn't seem right. He was taken to the hospital in Texarkana where he tested positive for Rhinovirus. By the second day, he couldn't swallow, hadn't eaten in two days, and was on IV fluids. His cry is down to almost a whisper but he was still just a cuddle bug. Day 3 they put in a feeding tube to try to get him to perk up. He's exhausted and still doesn't want to swallow.

With no improvement, they finally flew him to Little Rock AR to the Children's Hospital. After running blood tests, lumbar puncture, CT's and X-Rays, everything seemed normal, but he was fighting something, just to figure out what it could be. An MRI was to be done, and with that, sedation and a ventilator. The MRI showed nothing, but he was left on a ventilator to because he just keeps loosing muscle tone and he's too weak to protect his airway and cough up the mucus he's developing. EEG normal. Dr's make the decision to send the case to the CDC. Then finally, a diagnosis: Infant Botulism. Arkansas Children's Hospital gets 2-3 cases a year, so this is very rare thing. Lucas can't be tested for Botulism at the Children's Hospital, so they are getting samples and will confirm later, but agree to start treatment right away.

CDC has the treatment in California so it will be flown in and started. PICC line started for the treatment.

Long term we're looking at several weeks up here. The treatment isn't an instant fix but will shorten the time spent on the ventilator by weeks. Going to be a long road to recover, probably need to relearn how to eat but there should be zero long term issues.

So this is the story of Lucas. His parents & sister are trying to manage to spend as much time together, but this is a very difficult situation. There are going to be plenty of Healthcare costs because insurance never covers everything. There are also going to be long drives, overnight stays, extra food expenses as the family tries to navigate these rocky seas.

We ask for thoughts and prayers for healing for Lucas and peace for his family.

Thank you for your support!

With God All Things Are Possible Matthew 19:26