Hello Everyone, my name is Ericka and this is the story:

I am needing to raise money for my God-son Blake (the smaller of the two) - this is what is going on, and I ask for you to share this as much as you possibly can as this family has been through so much over the years medically and they could use the help and prayers as we navigate this new challenge.

On April 19th, Blake woke up complaining his stomach hurt. Dave and Amy told him to go to the bathroom to try to poop. (Blake likes to hold it because he is just too busy playing to take a potty break). He was not able to go. Blake had a soccer game that morning. He said he was fine and wanted to go to it. He played the whole game and scored 2 goals! Then his brother had a game about 1 1/2 hours later. They all had lunch; Blake chose McDonald's (of course!). He ate and all was fine. They went to Lucas' soccer game, and Blake ran around with friends the whole time. On the way home (25-minute drive), Blake started to complain of his stomach hurting. Once they got home, Blake was told to try to go to the bathroom. After some time with no results, it was decided to give Blake a glycerin suppository with very little results. 30 minutes later, he got a second one with very little results. Blake continued to complain of his stomach hurting. He was crying due to the pain. Then around 7 pm that night, he was given a 1/2 Fleet enema with no results. Blake continued to cry and say his stomach was hurting. He always pointed just below his belly button and above his bladder. Then at 9 pm, Dave and Amy took Blake to their local ER. They wanted to get an X-ray to see if he was constipated.

While in the ER, he continued to have pain. An X-ray was taken, and it showed air in his bowels, which can be an indication of a possible bowel obstruction. So a CT was done of his abdomen. The CT was negative for a bowel obstruction, but there was an incidental finding on the tail of his pancreas. The radiologist called it a mass. All of Blake's lab work was completely normal. There was nothing of real concern that indicated any kind of malignancy.

It was recommended to follow up outpatient to get an MRI of his pancreas to rule out malignancy. Fast forward to the following Tuesday at the follow-up appointment with their PCP. A referral appointment was made to a pediatric GI doctor. They went home and gave Blake a half bottle of Mag Citrate. Blake passed a ton of gas but no bowel movement. Blake felt better that night and was 90% back to his silly, funny, loving self.

The next day, Blake was seen by the GI doctor. During the visit, the doctor was concerned about the spot on his pancreas and to get results faster, the doctor had Dave and Amy take Blake to the children's ER to see a pediatric hematology oncologist and a pediatric surgeon and to also get an MRI. Labs were redrawn, and everything came back normal. They also drew tumor markers, and all were negative. The oncologist stated he was very confident that what Blake has going on was not malignant but rather a common cyst seen in children. This is a very slow-growing cyst. He said typically parents do not know anything is wrong until the cyst grows so big it pushes on the stomach causing projectile vomiting. He recommended getting an MRI so they could get a better picture of what was going on.

After a few images of the MRI uploaded, it was decided that Blake could follow up with the surgeon and discuss when surgery would be. A few days had gone by, and the MRI results finally came back. The doctors are wanting an ultrasound due to the cyst on the MRI looking like it could be either fluid-filled or a pseudoaneurysm. They want an ultrasound to see if there is blood flow to it and to see exactly what is going on to make the right decisions for surgery. The ultrasound is scheduled for April 24th. Blake has an appointment scheduled with the pediatric surgeon on April 30th. So as of right now, it is not known what surgery will entail; they just know that there needs to be surgery to remove it.

So with 2 ER visits, a CT, an MRI, 2 X-rays, an ultrasound, and several visits to specialists, the medical bills will be rolling in. I know this day and age many folks struggle, but if you have the means and feel the need to help them out, you can do so by donating.

If you don't feel comfortable using this platform, you can use Venmo - @bojimedic or CashApp - $bojimedic.

Some will see this and know how much this family has helped so many, if with nothing more than a loving smile. Please help us not to add any more stress with the financial side of Blake's healing!!

Thanks everyone for all your prayers and support.