Our son Hazel needs to have major surgeries. We need help!

On Saturday, August 2, 2025, our son Hazel fainted early in the morning. At first, we didn’t think it was serious but later that day, he messaged me saying he thought he needed to go to Urgent Care. I left work immediately, picked him up, and rushed him to Urgent Care here in Brunswick, MD.

The doctor there told me that based on his being extremely pale, we needed to get him to the emergency room ASAP.

At Frederick Memorial Hospital Emergency Room, tests showed his blood levels were dangerously low, and his heart was pumping extremely hard to keep up, which was causing him to faint. They ended up having to give him 4 blood transfusions to stabilize his levels.

After a week of testing in the hospital, including CT scans, endoscopy, colonoscopy, and more, we learned that Hazel has what I was diagnosed with 31 years ago: FAP Disease (Familial Adenomatous Polyposis) a rare, inherited genetic condition that causes hundreds to thousands of polyps in the colon and rectum, and almost always leads to cancer without treatment.

Biopsies that were taken suggest the presence of rectal cancer and will need to have colorectal surgery. On September 15th, Hazel underwent a PET scan to determine if the cancer had spread and would need to have chemo / radiation. Starting September 16th, he began iron infusions for continued treatment of his severe anemia.

As of today, November 20, 2025, this is where we are:

BUT WE RECENTLY RAN INTO A FEW MAJOR ISSUES!!!

ISSUE NUMBER 1:

About 2 weeks ago, the original surgeon that was slated to do the surgery, informed us that she doesn’t do jpouchs and that if it’s something Hazel wanted to explore, he would have to find another surgeon. Hazel is about to turn 21, he should have that option to not have to live with a bag for the next how ever many years, he should have that option!

I found him a NEW surgeon, and I will be going to get him evaluated on December 8, 2025, to see if this will be doable. These surgeries need to be done sooner than later, Hazels life depends on it!

ISSUE NUMBER 2:

In the process of searching for a new surgeon, our medical coverage was dropped when I had to update our information, household income and so on. I was able to reapply BUT now with the new policy I was approved for, the deductible is a few thousand dollars and the amount covered for surgery is going to leave us with having to pay thousands of dollars, depending on the overall cost.

I am Hazel’s dad, raising four kids on my own, currently working and doing what I can just to keep a roof over our heads. Hazel’s mom lives in Virginia right now, trying to rebuild her life after struggling with addiction, and working on close to 4 years in recovery. We are trying to get our family back together, so we can all be there to help support him. Hazel will need all the support possible after the surgeries, with recovery. I had the same surgeries over 30 years ago, so I know how difficult it can and will be, firsthand.

Right now, our biggest concern now, especially for Hazel as he has stressed this to me, is how we are going to be able to pay for all of this. The new insurance will help with a small portion of it but we don’t have thousands of dollars laying around to cover the rest, the deductible, the up to 50% that won’t be covered, and so on… The initial surgery could cost upwards of $50,000 alone. If he can have the reversal of the ileostomy, that can cost up to $19,000… Mind you, that’s just the surgeries. 50% of that is nearly $35,000 out of pocket ☹

We’re asking for help in any way you can give:

We’ve set up a simple way to share this page: HelpForHazel.info

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading, for caring, and for standing with Hazel.

Gregg, Hazel & Family

PS: I promise to keep everyone updated, through this page, on any more test findings, appointments, updates, as well as Hazel’s progress as we navigate through all this.