Ethan Perry's liver

Thank you for reading this bio of Ethan and his medical struggle. We are grateful for the opportunity to receive so that we can pay for Ethan's medical bills, which have come in at an alarming rate over the past 2 months. 

Initially I posted 15K. We currently have a $18K bill for Texas Children's. The biopsy at St. Luke's is more. The treatment care that lasted 3 days and saved his life is also as much.  I was so tentative to post for more than 15k, actually I was shamed by it. I've had some friends reach out to me tonight who know the circumstances and they asked me to post what is actually needed. At this time I feel sick to my tummy about the whole thing, asking for money. I have such a hard time with this and I have to ask your forgiveness for not being totally forthcoming when I started this whole thing. 

Ethan is seventeen and is one of the nicest humans created. He has been homeschooled his entire school career, with his brothers, through Classical Conversations. Ethan is currently a junior in high school. He loves history and literature and all things military. This year he took a break from Latin studies and decided to learn Spanish in hopes it will help him to communicate better once he joined the military or boarder patrol- those were his dreams. Ethan is the oldest brother of three, and he is an amazing brother, son, and friend. We are so proud of him and we thank God for choosing us to raise him. 

Collectively the need right now is greater than $20k, upwards of $80K but in good Christian faith we are currently paying the bills that come in! We have been able to pay off the initial co-pays for Texas Children's and Methodist, along with lab fees from Texas Children's. We have started to pay off the transport Acadian bill too. We've also paid off some of the St. Luke's bills and it feels good to know we are making a small dent. The monthly bills are difficult to pay because Travis is a City of Houston Fire Fighter and I stay home and homeschool all three of our sons. Covid hit my cake business and I am currently at zero for income. God has always provided! We are trying to be good stewards of His provisions. 

On October 12th I noticed Ethan's eyes were yellow. I knew in my mother's heart something was not right so I called that same day and got an appointment across town with the only pediatrician available for a blood draw. We were admitted the following morning to Methodist ER after an alarming phone call from the pediatrician to admit him as soon as possible. 

Fast forward... 4 weeks. From October 12 through Nov 13 Ethan's body declined rapidly. Within 4 weeks our boy went from a healthy seventeen year old at around 200lbs of muscle down to 174lbs of yellow-orange skin, sinking eyes, with extreme lethargy. We are so grateful Ethan never had any pain, although he did feel extremely tired. 

Ethan initially stayed at Texas Children's for 2 days, at $9,000.00 per day after our deductible. Ethan also endured a liver biopsy through St. Luke's, also not covered under our insurance, and weekly blood draws over that 4 weeks all resulting in inconclusive diagnosis. His liver was dying and no test could tell anyone the cause. It was terribly frightening and we were helpless to watch our son decline before our eyes without any answers as to why.

Dr. Hughes through our insurance network took Ethan on as a patient, although Ethan is still considered a pediatric patient. Dr. Hughes reached out to St. Luke's and Baylor College of Medicine with Ethan's labs. With the help of those doctors and hepatology team, run by Dr. Stribbling and Dr. Sood, Ethan received the biopsy and also the steroid treatment that saved his life. All of this was out of network for our City of Houston Cigna HMO. 

Ethan's bilirubin levels elevated to over 30k and his liver enzymes 5-7k. His liver started into necrosis and his body wasn't going to stop the attack. The liver team under Dr. Stribbling and Dr. Sood were at stand by for a possible transplant if they couldn't stop his liver from dying.  The goal was to inject Ethan with 500mg of steroids for 3 days to cause his immune system to 'sit down and shut up' and stop it from killing his liver. The treatment was tricky because if it wasn't auto immune the introduction of the steroid would have had a damaging life threatening result. Ethan was closely monitored during the treatment. Before we were admitted to St. Luke's, while in the patient admittance area, Dr. Stribbling met with us and stated to me "If this were my son I would do the treatment." 

Ethan was diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis, although he doesn't even fit in that diagnosis according to the doctors. They are still perplexed by his case, although he is medically unique, and will continue to greatly help the heptaology team with his labs and biopsy. Ethan is net zero for all auto immune tests and falls in a very small percentage of the population within his age group, -1%. He continues to be on immune suppressors and other medications. He sees the specialist every month and continues to have blood drawn on a biweekly basis.  Currently his white blood count is elevated and he is always at risk for contracting a virus or cold that his body will not be able to fight off. It's risky but we have no other options at this time. 

Ethan's dreams of joining the military are on long-term hold and may not be achieved in this lifetime. Ethan is an E2 through USNSCC and has dreamed of joining the armed forces, which we all supported and honored. His great granddad Harry, his Papa Ed, and his own dad, Travis, all served in the armed forces. Who knows what the Lord has planned, His plans are always for us, never against us. We trust in Him. We know there are many people in need of assistance so we acknowledge and are honored you would consider giving towards Ethan's medical needs.