Hi, my name is Mariah Sainer, and I’m Remington’s aunt. I wish I were writing this under better circumstances, but right now our sweet Remi is fighting for his life.

Remi was rushed to the ER after suddenly becoming very ill. His abdomen was swollen and hard, his color was pale and yellow, his eyes were sunken in, and he kept slipping in and out of consciousness. His body temperature was dangerously low — the doctors had to wrap him in warming blankets just to stabilize him.

They quickly realized something was very wrong. His liver numbers were alarming, his blood pressure dangerously low, and there were almost no bowel sounds. As things declined fast, doctors tried everything — IVs, a central line, antibiotics, fluids — but he continued to deteriorate. Eventually, they discovered he had a bowel volvulus, meaning his intestines had twisted, cutting off blood flow.

Remington had to be airlifted to Riley’s Hospital for Children to undergo emergency surgery. The surgeons removed large portions of his intestines that had died due to lack of oxygen. He is currently on a ventilator, heavily sedated, and his blood pressure remains unstable. The next 24–36 hours are critical as doctors determine whether they can reconnect his intestines or if he will need an ostomy bag.

It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see such a small body fighting such a big battle. We are terrified, exhausted, and praying constantly that he pulls through.

Remi’s mom, Micaela, is staying by his side every moment she can. Unfortunately, her car’s engine blew just days before this all happened, leaving her without transportation. She’s missed work due to both the car and now Remi’s medical emergency. She is trying to hold it together for her baby boy, but the emotional and financial burden is overwhelming.

We’re asking for any help — prayers, shares, and donations — to help cover travel, food, lodging, lost wages, and whatever expenses come with a long hospital stay and recovery. Every bit helps.

If you’d like to send direct support, Micaela’s Venmo is @Micaela-Greenwood.

Please keep Remington in your thoughts and prayers. He is such a strong little fighter, and our family is praying for a miracle.

Thank you all for your love, support, and kindness during this unimaginable time. ❤️

UPDATE:

1pm Our sweet boy Remi got out of surgery . While in surgery the first thing that happened was he got some blood because his hemoglobin was low. They were also able to take him off of all of his blood pressure medication. The surgery went as great as it could because our big boy is with us. In surgery they did not find anymore dead bowel but with how much blood pressure medication he was on it did make it hard for them to reconnect his bowels in the current moment. So remi has come back to us with an ileostomy on his right side. We were told that the parody is like the trach we have no time frame of how long

Remi is so strong and he is kicking butt, he is currently getting a lot of fluids so he is getting put on a Lasix drip so he is not over loaded on fluids. Currently we have no idea how long we’ll be here but definitely for the foreseeable future. What we do know is that he is with us and as long as he’s with us we will be okay.

update from mom 11/25

It’s been an incredibly heavy few weeks for our family. As many of you know, Remi was home for only about two and a half days before he ended up right back at Riley. He’s severely malnourished and just hasn’t been tolerating his ileostomy at all. Even with a new regimen, his vitamin levels keep dropping, and right now the only thing he can reliably handle is IV fluids.

We’ve all been talking closely with his doctors, doing everything we can, and thought we had a pretty solid plan… but today we got some news none of us were expecting. While Ezra and I were having a conversation about who could go home to work and handle bills, the doctors came in—not to ask how his latest feed went like we assumed—but to discuss two options.

The first was to keep trying the new regimen, adding vitamins, and hoping we don’t end up back where we started. The second was something we didn’t even know was on the table: Remington’s surgeon has already been considering a reattachment surgery much sooner than expected. Because Remi was only home a couple of days, we didn’t get the chance to hear this in an outpatient visit.

The surgeon feels optimistic and believes the best move for Remi is to attempt a reattachment within the next 7–10 days. It completely shocked us—exciting, terrifying, overwhelming… every emotion at once. But seeing how thin and weak he is, and how poorly he’s tolerating the ileostomy, we understand why the team feels this is necessary.

The plan starting tomorrow is to place a new PICC line and begin 60% TPN with 40% G-tube feeds, plus vitamins and fluids, to try to build him up before surgery. He’ll also be doing extensive PT and OT to regain some strength. He’s so small, so tired, and struggling, and we’re doing everything we can to support him.

This also means we’ll likely be here another month—probably through Christmas. We’re still trying to figure out how to juggle everything: bills, being two hours from home, taking care of pets, and supporting Remi through all of this. Ezra will be working as much as he can until surgery.

We should know more tomorrow once they lay out the full surgical plan. For now, please keep Remington—and all of us—in your prayers. We’re grateful for every message, call, meal, and bit of support you’ve given us.

And to end on a lighter note… here’s a funny little video of Remi and Ezra from yesterday, showing off Remi’s new chewy. Moments like that keep us going.

Thank you all for loving our boy so much.

— Mariah Sainer, Remington’s Aunt