Hello my name is Jennifer Kelley and I am a friend and Godfamily to the Yarber family- Joseph and Micaela Yarber and their 4 children, Joziah (6), Azariah (4), Seraphim (1) and Kalliope (7mo). I am sharing their story because their family deserves all the opportunities they can get to help support their son Seraphim.

Backstory leading to present day-Seraphim was born at 37 weeks on October 3rd, 2023. He was the 3rd child of Joseph and Micaela Yarber. What should have been a typical birthing experience quickly turned south. Seraphim never fed properly due to constant throwing up. On day 3 of his life, he was placed into NICU for not eating and constant vomiting. After 9 days he was discharged home to meet his siblings and family. Unfortunately he continued to struggle with eating and keeping weight on. Life for Seraphim consisted of weekly ER visits due to respiratory issues (which were believed to be related to his reflux). By 7 weeks old he was admitted to the hospital and sent home unanswered questions. This visit was followed by a 911 call for respiratory distress call leading Seraphim to be placed with a feeding tube, oxygen and ultimately begin his diagnoses of Hirschsprung's.

On November 22nd 2023, after thorough testing he was diagnosed with Hirschsprung's disease and had his first surgery. What was supposed to be 2 hours turned into a torturous 6 hours for both Micaela and Joseph. During surgery the decision was made to give him an ileostomy to give his body a chance to heal. He was so little and surgery took so long that he was unable to come off the ventilator after surgery and stayed on till the anesthesia wore off. Not how any family wants to spend their Thanksgiving but the Yarbers continued to stay positive and hopeful through it all.

December 4th 2023, Seraphim was discharged to go home with his ileostomy as well as a central line put in to give him IV nutrition. Seraphim continued to have multiple hospital visits and admissions through December for breathing issues and respiratory care.

At just 3months old, he was admitted to the hospital for RSV and quickly declined. His ileostomy prolapsed and a decision was made for urgent surgery to close his ileostomy. It was at this time his doctors placed him on a ventilator where he stayed for 10 excruciating days. By the grace of God, Seraphim came off the ventilator and was placed with a gtube to help support his eating.

Over the months of February and March 2024 there were many issues with Seraphim's body accepting nutrients and passing them properly. Despite all the medical decisions made to help him, he continued to struggle and was losing weight rapidly. By June 2024 at just 8 months old, Seraphim had become a failure to thrive and had a colostomy. This surgery was successful, but a central line was placed once again to continue his IV nutrition in hopes to bring his weight up.

The colostomy came with its own complications, being that Seraphim was so tiny and medically fragile. By September 2024, he had a surgery to revise the colostomy stoma due to it being inverted. While it was successful, he began to bleed from it and continued to bleed. It was not until March 2025 ( 6 months later) that he had another stoma revision to stop the continued bleeding from his stoma. While this surgery was successful, Seraphim had post op complications leading to another hospital stay and weekly wound care.

As of today, June 2025, the bleeding still has not resolved and he requires iron infusions. His body reacted poorly to the infusions and it was medically decided to stop the necessary infusions. His surgery team in California has reached a wall and have very little ideas on what to do next other than wait.

This has taken a toll on the Yarber family, financially, emotionally, physically. As a Hail Mary, last ditch effort, Micaela reached out to Nationwide Children's hospital to see a Hirschsprung's specialist in Columbus, Ohio. This call came with hope and a light at the end of this very crazy tunnel. The surgeon there has a plan and believes he can get Seraphim off IV nutrition (which is not intended for 24/7 which he currently is needing) and he believes he can help him with needing a central line in his chest. This is the first bit of hope and positive news Joseph and Micaela have had in a very long time. Unfortunately, out-of state care is not in network with Seraphim's insurance. Each visit to Ohio is expected to be 7-10 days barring any complications. He would need at minimum 2 visits but Seraphim is a complex case and his parents are exhausting every option to take care of their beautiful baby boy.