Hello all,

I am creating this fundraiser for my dear friend, Shelly Stewart. As many of you are aware, her son Waylon was diagnosed with short bowel syndrome in 2009. His story is listed below. He continues to have chronic health issues and has been hospitalized from sometimes days to weeks to months on end. As he is now an adult, he has transitioned from UPMC Children’s Hospital to Cleveland Clinic for care.

In February 2009, Waylon Carter, who was only 5 1/2 years old, began to have symptoms of a stomach virus; fever, vomiting & diarrhea. His mother, Shelly, took him to a local emergency department near their hometown. While running numerous tests, they discovered a serious medical problem; bowel obstruction. He was immediately transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia where he underwent emergency surgery. His team of surgeons had to remove all of his small intestines. During his procedure, Waylon coded twice. He was diagnosed with "short gut" syndrome (short bowel syndrome). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK6974/

Shelly and Waylon spent 6 weeks in Morgantown, and then were transferred to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP) for transplant evaluation. He was evaluated and placed high on the list as he was in critical need of a transplant.

After 2 false alarms, Shelly received the call they had been praying for. Waylon received his transplant on this 7th birthday, August 14th 2010. It was a 6 month stay at CHP for recovery. After doing fairly well the first couple of years post-transplant, Waylon had a serious case of rejection in 2012. He never fully recovered from it.

After a long battle of trying to heal his body of rejection, his team of doctors decided that no more could be done. The medication to try to reverse his organ rejection could possibly cause cancer if they continue further. Waylon had surgery in January 2015, to remove the small bowel that was transplanted in 2010.

Since that time, Waylon has been in and out of the hospital with various health complications. He is currently hospitalized at Cleveland Clinic with another line infection. This is his reality as someone who is on lifetime TPN, which is a necessity for him to stay alive. He is not a candidate for another transplant at this time.

PLEASE….any donation you can make will help this family tremendously. The financial costs of having to “live” at a hospital full time are astronomical. Any donations are greatly appreciated. Thank you and God Bless!!!!