Will’s battle against endocarditis

My name is Michelle and I am the mother of our courageous son Will. If you had the honor of meeting Will, you would know that he is a wonderful teenage boy. We were blessed with two amazing kids!

Will just graduated high school this past yearand has been looking forward to the next chapter in his life just like every other teenager. Will has a huge heart and loves his family and friends deeply. He is one of the funniest teenagers I’ve ever known and has always enjoyed making others laugh at his jokes and at his off the wall remarks. Every year in school his teachers would nominate him as the class clown. There’s never a dull moment when he’s around and he always keeps us on our toes. Will will also agree that he was blessed with some really great hair as well! ❤️

Will has not had it easy medically…he came in this world fighting for his life and has overcome some tremendous obstacles. He is a fighter and never gives up. In his 19 years, he has faced more medical issues than most people do in their whole lifetime. He’s had 3 open heart surgeries, numerous heart catherizations, countless hospitalizations for respiratory issues including pneumonia , along with a previous bacterial infection almost 4 years ago. Will has never once complained about any of this!

On August 5th Will came home from work and was complaining of being really tired and running a low grade fever. We had already found out this past April that Will needed a heart cath due to his heart having to work hard to get blood to his left lungs that his body was not properly receiving along with some narrowing in a valve where a stent had previously been placed and ballooned to its maximum capacity. On the weekend of August 5th his fevers kept increasing each night. Some of the fevers were over 104 degrees. I took him to see his pediatrician early that week and they did a respiratory screen to rule out any and all respiratory viruses known and a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia…both tests were normal. We kept treating the fevers successfully with Tylenol and Motrin. Being Wills mom for the past 19 years, you know when something is bad wrong! I called his cardiologist on his personal cell phone the following Thursday morning because his fevers were running extremely high, by the way…in the 19 years of being a heart Mom, I’ve never reached out to his doctor on his personal cell but I felt I had no other option. My husband became so worried that he had researched all of Wills symptoms that seemed to mirror Endocarditis. Wills cardiologist was able to confirm endocarditis that following Sunday thru some positive blood cultures.

On August 13th, Will was admitted for a very rare bacterial infection causing endocarditis …he was started on IV antibiotics and transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for more tests.

There is nothing we could have done to avoid any of this! Unfortunately having prosthetic parts in your heart, you take a risk everyday of developing endocarditis. There’s no way to prevent or avoid it from happening. This bacteria lives in the mouth of everyone! Unfortunately, when you’ve had the heart issues such as Will combined with a bacterial infection, this infection will cling to any prosthetic parts in your heart and vegetate causing further damage to the heart. It is very serious and occurred out of the blue with no warning whatsoever!

Will still has a long road ahead of him… including going home with an PICC Line in order to receive IV antibiotics for the next 6 weeks, after that he will need a heart cath to see if and what damage was done to his heart from this bacteria… this will determine what steps the doctors/surgeons need to take next.

Our family could use your support.

As many of you know, we are trying to survive on one income right now. My husband Ryan of 20 years lost his ability to walk on his own due to a sudden disc blowout that caused him to develop Cauda Equina Syndrome. My husband’s recovery is a slow process but he’s making remarkable progress! We went from not knowing if he would ever be able to walk again to now being able to walk with some support. Ryan being able to focus on complete recovery through therapy is so important to us.

All of this has happened within 8 months of each other. I’ve learned to never take anything or anyone for granted. Your life can literally change in an instant! Both of these boys in my life are my world. I know we will get through these trying times like we have before.

Any help will go to the mounting medical bills we will and are receiving, groceries, utilities and housing.

We also realize people are going through their own struggles and if you are unable to help, your prayers and thoughts would be greatly appreciated..:along with sharing our story…that would mean a lot as well!

Lastly, we have been blessed with outpouring support from friends, our family, and our community during this difficult time with my husband…from the bottom of our hearts and to everyone who has been here for us during our time of need, we love you all and thank each one of you! If we have not been able to personally thank you, please know we are extremely grateful to each one of you!

We will continue to weather these storms together as a family and pray for complete healing.

Please stay safe and stay healthy!