Helping Our Family At This Challenging Time

Hi, my name is Cierra. I have 3 beautiful children. 2 girls, and a boy. My 9 year old, only son has suffered with monthly illnesses starting at age 2. After years and years of going head to head with the medical giants that I had to fight with, and advocate for my son… We finally have a DIAGNOSIS as of June 2023. My son suffered from monthly high fevers, vomiting, and stomach pain for far too long. I was constantly told that it was “normal” for school aged children to swap germs, and pass viruses. I was made to feel like I was crazy, or a hypochondriac. Nothing about what I’ve experienced with my son ever felt “normal” in my gut I knew it was something much much more. After years of advocating, and following my gut instinct we finally decided to get new health insurance. Not even 4 months after we had our new insurance, they had scheduled my son for a colonoscopy on 06/02/2023. During that colonoscopy they were able to finally give us a diagnosis! Although we were so pleased to find out he did in fact have a medical issue, it also broke our hearts. Finding out your child has an incurable auto immune disease is devastating. We were previously told he had Periodic Fever Syndrome and that he would “grow out of it” Ofcourse that never happened because he didn’t have a short term illness… this was long term… this was something we would now have to deal with for the rest of our lives…hearing “Your son has Crohn’s disease” was devastating. It was also eye opening that you should ALWAYS follow your gut. Always advocate for your children! During the colonoscopy it was also discovered my son had a small intestine stricture, that was actually pretty blocked. So we went from colonoscopy, to diagnosis to being admitted into the hospital same day! He was admitted to help him have a BM (laxatives) and also to give him some bowel rest, and to come up with a game plan since he had pretty progressive disease. Lots of scarring, new and old ulcers. To think my baby unnecessarily suffered for so long was painful. What was decided was monthly infusions (Infliximab ) to try and keep the stricture at bay. Also MiraLax twice daily, sulfasalazine, and Methotrexate. Sadly, Myles would continue to have blockages. Usually atleast once a week. Sometimes twice. He has missed countless days of school. Hasn’t been able to participate in sports.. missed out on the last couple games of his baseball season, and then was unable to feel good enough to continue after only 2 weekends of basketball. The Doctor knew from day one, if the meds didn’t work.. and he continued to get blockages and flare ups, there was no fixing it with meds. The only solution was surgery. We had to wait for a board of surgeons to decide it was the last resort and they felt comfortable with it. We were supposed to have surgery consultation on 02/15/2024, with surgery happening mid to late March-Early April. But we didn’t make it… On January 19th Myles started to feel ill, as he often does. So it was our normal protocol. Lots of exlax, senna, and miralax. Usually by day 3 he would be cleaned out and be okay again… that never happened. He started vomiting, having pain, headache , and I knew this time it was bad. Finally, against what he wanted, I took him to the ER at the Children’s Hospital. We have been here since January 26, 2024. I have my 14 y/o , and 17 month old baby girls at home. My husband is taking care of our girls. He had his work schedule changed to be able to take the baby to daycare, and he comes home and does it all for them while I stay with Myles. I was able to come home this past weekend (it’s a little under a 2 hour drive) and got to spend sometime with the girls. So Thankful to Myles amazing Grandparents for coming to be with him so I could do that. Also my Great Aunt Apple who has been by my side since day one of his diagnosis. It’s hard to balance being a Mom to 3 children who all have such different needs right now. I just want my babies happy, healthy, and under one roof. I know that will be soon Myles hasn’t had anything to eat since January 28th. He has a PicLine and is being fed and hydrated through that. He has had it put in, and then replaced today due to it moving. He can only have ice chips, and 3 times a day gets 4 oz of Gatorade with MiraLax and meds. That is the highlight of his day… he gets SO excited to drink a laxative with a small anoint of Gatorade…it’s heart breaking!!!! He is something special though, let me tell ya!!! The strength he has is beyond my comprehension, as well as most people who have been so lucky to get to know him. Although sometimes he questions why he was dealt this hand, and has to endure this.. he mostly is completely understanding. He takes meds as directed, gets poked and prodded with out a fuss. He is NINE. He has maybe cried 2, 3 times since we got here. And one of those times was due to a very very scary dream he had. The other times is fear for his surgery. I’ve truly never known a stronger person then my son. I have so much hope that this is only part of his story… this will make him an even stronger, loving , compassionate and patient person. He is the most incredible child. If you know him personally, you know exactly what I mean. I hate to even have to ask for assistance but this is just an emotional, and financial experience and I’m asking for whatever you can donate, but truly more then anything, keep Myles in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for taking the time to hear his story, and being supportive to my family at this time No dollar goes unnoticed! We are so appreciative!

-The Garza Family ❤️