Zeke Perkins

Zeke Charles Perkins made his way into the world on February 21, 2023. Here is his story.

Zeke is the second born child to Casey and Dave Perkins and little brother to two-year-old Stuart Perkins. Casey carried Zeke full-term with the assumption that he would be a healthy baby. At birth, Zeke’s blood sugar was critically low and thanks to an observant nurse, he was rushed to the NICU at Anne Arundel Medical Center only 20 minutes after birth. After several tests and scary days of uncertainty, he was deemed critical and transferred to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Through the work of incredible health care workers, Zeke has been diagnosed with panhypopituitarism. This means his pituitary gland does not produce the hormones our bodies need to function. He will be on life-sustaining medication for his entire life and will require close monitoring. Even a simple cold could be life-threatening. Still awaiting other diagnoses, it is suspected he will have more challenges in the future. Zeke was also born without one of his carotid arteries, just adding to his medical anomalies. We are unsure what his quality of life will be at this time; only time and extensive medical testing/intervention will tell.

What we do know is that Zeke’s medical care will be expensive. On behalf of Zeke’s resilient parents, we are asking for monetary donations. Your donations will aid in the cost of medical care. This is a frightening and unclear time in Zeke’s and his family’s lives. Thank you for anything you can contribute.

For those who have asked and are local, we do plan on doing a meal train once Zeke is out of the hospital and the Perkins are reunited back home together. At this time, that date is unknown.