Grayson's Struggle: Pain Without Answers

A few weeks ago, Grayson got really sick. It started with a high fever and he was complaining of pain in his feet. It progressed to him not being able to walk, refusing to eat, and sleeping all day. He quickly lost 17lbs and was taken to be checked out. His symptoms were dismissed as an ulcerative colitis flare up and he was sent home. Not believing his issues to be related to his UC, his mom took him to urgent care for a second opinion. He was eventually sent to UC Davis for further evaluation where he was finally admitted. Grayson is in pain all day and on a cocktail of medication to try and keep his pain level under control. When he has reached the threshold for what he can be given, he is left to scream in pain for hours until he receives his next dose. He has undergone multiple tests, scans, MRIs and bloodwork but the doctors have not been able to identify what is causing this. The MRI showed findings on his spine and his brain but they have no idea what it is. Building Legos has been helpful to keep his mind occupied and not focused on the pain and donations helped keep him well supplied. The Lego donation campaign via Facebook unfortunately resulted in a fraudulent Venmo account being created, which made it necessary for us to create this GoFundMe.

Grayson’s mom and dad have both been able to be with him at the hospital but incurred (and continue to incur) expenses to stay near the hospital. Being at the hospital has also resulted in not being able to work. Because doctors have been unable to find a definitive diagnosis or to treat his symptoms, Gray will have to undergo additional testing under anesthesia. Without a diagnosis or a treatment plan there is no timeline for when Gray will be discharged and they will be able to go home. The focus now is to raise money to assist with food and lodging and offset the financial burden that goes with missing work.