Help the Garcia Family - Juju strong!

Julian had a stomach virus, which we later found out was actually norovirus/adenovirus/rhinovirus, back in April. He seemed get over the initial illness quickly, however after a week or so his stomach started to swell. After multiple trips to his pediatrician and then finally the ER, he was admitted with an intestinal obstruction. After almost a month hospital stay, Julian went home with a feeding tube. He was unable to eat without severe pain, abdominal swelling, and vomiting. Doctors told us that with time his condition would improve. Unfortunately, at home his condition continued to decline. He continued to lose weight, have pain, vomiting, and became severely dehydrated and malnourished. This led to multiple admissions to the hospital, lots of procedures, and a handful of surgeries. Julian has spent almost 20 total weeks in the hospital since late April. The last admission was almost 7 weeks. He just got to come home on September 21st! He has been diagnosed with a rare condition called Chronic Intestinal Psuedo Obstruction along with severe gastroparesis and intestinal dysmotility. Because of this, Julian is unable to eat. He has a gastrostomy-jejunostomy tube in his belly. He gets multiple medicines through the 'J' port and his stomach is drained 24/7 through the 'G' port to prevent pain/nausea/vomiting. He also has a central line that goes to his heart. He currently gets all of his nutrition, called TPN/Lipids, and some of his medicine, through this central line. Unfortunately, all treatments available here have failed to work. His current team is sending Julian to Ohio for further treatment. The hope is that he will be able to receive a newly developed device called a gastric pacemaker/stimulator. This will allow him to be able to tolerate tube feedings and hopefully eventually eat again! While he is thriving on the TPN, it is not a good long term solution due to the high risk of sepsis (life threatening infection resulting from the central line) and the fact that it causes liver failure. Doctors say his condition has all been the result of the triple virus he got that just wreaked havoc on his entire GI system. What they previously thought would resolve, doctors now think will be a life long battle, but we know Julian is strong!

Julian's adorable smile, cheery attitude and tender heart bring so much joy to everyone around him. The Garcia’s are a humble, genuine and hard working family that would never hesitate to help anyone. Knowing that Julian’s journey to health is far from over, donations will help with all of the expenses (gas, food, medical bills, etc) and ease some of the strain for this amazing family.