Blessings for Brody

Brody Curtis was born on May 24, 2011, with a very rare, serious, and life-threatening skin condition called Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa, or just RDEB for short. Brody is missing the protein collagen 7 in his skin that holds it together. When he was born, Brody was missing skin on his arms, hands, legs, and feet. The slightest amount of friction against his skin causes it to either form painful blisters or come off altogether. EB is often compared to what a burn victim experiences. Children born with EB are called “Butterfly Children” because their skin is as fragile as butterfly wings. Because of this, Brody must be wrapped from the neck down in bandages to help protect his skin from wounds and infections.  These bandage changes take betwen 3 and 4 hours and happen 3times a week. Around 80% of Brody’s body is covered with open wounds. The survival rate for EB is very low. Many children die before they reach the age of two, 30% die before the age of ten, 40% before the age of 20, and 70% before the age of 30. Most deaths are from either infection or other complications caused from the EB (like organ failure). Those that reach their teens and 20s, typically die from skin cancer caused from all of the scarring brought on by EB. At this time, there is no cure for EB.

Each year, between 10 and 20 doctors appointments are required for Brody’s treatment at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which is over 2 hours away from Brody’s hometown. Some of these appointments turn into multiple day stays in the hospital for various reasons (blood transfusion, skin grafts, IV fluids/antibiotics, etc). Because of these appointments, his mother Heather, who is a single mother and a high school teacher, must miss many days of work. Many of these days are without pay. Brody must also take many medications for itching and pain. All of these things along with the bandaging materials he needs and travel costs are all very expensive.
 
Brody also has a big sister named Makenna who has had to sacrifice a lot since he was born.

Please help Brody and his family with his continuing/growing medical costs.