Tyler Griffin's medical fund
I normally do not like discussing my families personal life over Facebook or any social media. We keep to ourselves for the most part. This Gofundme page is for my husband Tyler Griffin.
About 9 years ago Tyler almost choked to death on a vegatable supplement he had been taking to stay healthy. One day it became lodged in his throat and he was rushed to the hospital. An endoscope had to be done, as it became so lodged into his throat it would not dissolve on his own. Ever since than Tyler has not be able to eat the majority of solid foods. One for fear he may choke again, and two because swallowing is difficult for him. But because he is such a tough guy, he grinned and bear it for years now, even if it took him hours to finish a meal.
Within the last 3 months, Tyler's condition has become extremely worse. He cannot swallow any solid foods, including some liquids without choking. This also includes trying to swallow even soup. He has lost a tremendous amount of weight and became very sick because of this. His body is not getting the proper amount of nutrients. At first, we did not know what was going on, until he started choking on soup. For the most part, he has been living off of Ensure nutrition shakes, and whatever foods he can manage to get down, which is very minimal.
Tyler is a warehouse Supervisor at Bos & Co shoes. He is an extremely hard worker and his job is very physically demanding. He drives a reach truck and is on his feet all day. As his condition worsened, it has become difficult for him to work. He has missed quite a bit of time off work (weeks not days) and cannot focus or able to perform a lot of the physical demands of his job. Tyler has always worked a full time to support his family. I am his wife, Nadia Griffin, and we have a beautiful 7 year old girl named Morgen. I have started this fund for him.
Both of us have always been working parents, but Tyler has always been the main financial support for us. Due to this condition, we have fallen behind financially these last few months due to the time off he has had to take.
I work part time as a Hairstylist at Rock Star Hair Studio. We recently had to cancel our child care subsidy for Morgen, due to the high costs. I currently only work around Morgen's school hours, so my income is very little.
We live simple lives and do not own a fancy house or car. Everything we work for is for Morgen. Right now, our financial situation is struggling and our bills are falling behind.
After visiting a Specialist doctor last week, the doctor is convinced Tyler has a condition called "Eosinophilic Esophagitus" or "EOE". As of today (May 19th), Tyler had a Biopsy done at the hospital and it confirmed this is infact his condition.
EOE is a chronic, allergic imflammatory disease of the esophagus. Happens when the white blood cells, the esinophil, accumulates in the esophagus. It causes swelling and narrowing of the esophagus, not letting any food or liquid pass without choking. The main cause of this is normally a food allergy or can sometimes be an air borne allergy.
The doctor and an allergy specialist will work very closely together to determine what food allergy it can be. A food allergy can be very difficult to detect, and can be anything from Gluten, Wheat, Dairy, Soya, Eggs etc. He will have to be eliminating these foods for the next few months till they can determine what is causing the reaction.
Their is no cure for EOE right now, and it is suffered by thousands as we found out through research. It is very common from anyone who has had asthma as a child or adult. Tyler has had asthma his whole life.
As we wait for more test results to come back from the hospital, the doctor has given him prescriptions to hopefully help reduce the swelling in his esophagus. Tyler does not have any medical coverage through his employment, and nor do I since I am self employed. The prescriptions have costed us $300 (not exaggerating). These will be ongoing until the doctors an determine the main cause.
We are not asking for much of a donation, as even asking if a big deal for us. We prefer to work and earn our own money. However, in this case we are in need. After missing a number of days of work for both of us, keeping an endless supply of Ensure shakes and now expensive prescription bills, we want to make sure our family, mainly Morgen, has everything she needs.
Please take a moment to research Esinophilic Esophagitis and see what a terrible condition it can actually be. Imagine not being able to eat anything? It saddens me to see Tyler like this, we just want him to get better! He is literally hungry 24 hours a day and cannot eat, exept drink a shake.
If anyone knows Tyler Griffin, they know he always has endless amounts of energy and laughter. But this condition has not only affected him physically, but also mentally. We are trying to keep him strong.
If you cannot donate, we completely understand, even just send Tyler a get well message. He will greatly appreciate it! Thank you to everyone for your support for all this!