Beau Tristan Boyd
Donation protected
This is the story of Beau Tristan Boyd. His strength and courage amazes us all!
Immediately after coming home from the hospital after being born, Beau began to have serious feeding issues and trouble putting on any weight. To make matters worse, at two months he experienced a severe choking episode which resulted in a food aversion and led to him refusing any bottles or baby foods. And so began the never ending flood of tests. Within a very short time frame he went through upper and lower GI's, swallow studies, gastric emptying studies, a brain CT, Ph studies and every blood workup imaginable. Finally a post laryngeal scope revealed that he has Laryngeal Malaysia which is excess floppy tissue in the back of the throat coupled with severe reflux. The fix? A naso-gastric tube through the nose and down into his stomach which would pump food into his stomach continuously.
For a time it seemed that he was getting heavier and stronger by the day! But unfortunately after two and half months the feeds never increased from more than an ounce at a time, which just wasn't going to be enough for a permanent solution. So it was decided that a G-Button would be surgically placed in his stomach so that the food could bypass his esophagus and be pumped straight into his stomach. Still despite everyone’s best efforts Beau continued to be unable to tolerate the amount of food necessary to sustain his growth and development. The next step was to do a full fundoplication, where Doctors wrap the fundus of the stomach around the esophagus in order to prohibit vomiting. It was also decided that the original G-button was not in the correct place and needed to be moved. The surgery for both was done last Friday, February 19th.
Initially he gained weight so they were discharged and sent home but within 24 hours he was vomiting again and had a fever of 103, so back to the hospital they went. The answers they have received so far, is that Beau has contracted RSV, which is a very serious respiratory virus that takes months for healthy children to overcome. With sutures still in his belly, coughing has really taken a toll on Beau and they will continue to stay in the hospital until doctors are comfortable with sending him home. There is still a chance that the G Button is yet again in the wrong place, therefore Beau could have to endure yet another surgery in order for him to intake enough to gain weight and grow as normal.
If you know Josh, Beau is his world, he is a devoted father and has had to take several unpaid days off of work to be by Beau’s side to ensure everyone was doing exactly what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately being off of work any longer is not an option for him, so during the day, he has to work, keeping his phone by his side for as many updates as he can get. The moment he is off of work, he drives from Lewisville to Cook’s in Ft Worth to be with his son, where most nights he stays. Then he gets up and does it all over again the next day. Most of us will never know the struggles of having to leave your child in a hospital every day and go to work, attempt to concentrate on keeping a job so that you can pay the medical bills in order to bring a healthy child home someday.
Everyone knows children are EXPENSIVE but when dealing with a very sick child money should be the last thing on a parents mind, but unfortunately that is not the case. As the list of Beau's medical diagnoses grows the hospital bills are growing exponentially right along with them, and even though Beau is insured the out of pocket for his parents is 20%. If you've ever stayed even one night in the hospital you can imagine that when all is said and done this number will be astronomical! If you have followed Beau's story from the beginning I'm sure you have had the thought "I wish there was something I could do." There is, this is so much more than just money, its showing our love and support for these boys. There is no right amount to give even the littlest bit helps, lets show Josh and Beau that we are here and we will fight with them as long as it takes.
Immediately after coming home from the hospital after being born, Beau began to have serious feeding issues and trouble putting on any weight. To make matters worse, at two months he experienced a severe choking episode which resulted in a food aversion and led to him refusing any bottles or baby foods. And so began the never ending flood of tests. Within a very short time frame he went through upper and lower GI's, swallow studies, gastric emptying studies, a brain CT, Ph studies and every blood workup imaginable. Finally a post laryngeal scope revealed that he has Laryngeal Malaysia which is excess floppy tissue in the back of the throat coupled with severe reflux. The fix? A naso-gastric tube through the nose and down into his stomach which would pump food into his stomach continuously.
For a time it seemed that he was getting heavier and stronger by the day! But unfortunately after two and half months the feeds never increased from more than an ounce at a time, which just wasn't going to be enough for a permanent solution. So it was decided that a G-Button would be surgically placed in his stomach so that the food could bypass his esophagus and be pumped straight into his stomach. Still despite everyone’s best efforts Beau continued to be unable to tolerate the amount of food necessary to sustain his growth and development. The next step was to do a full fundoplication, where Doctors wrap the fundus of the stomach around the esophagus in order to prohibit vomiting. It was also decided that the original G-button was not in the correct place and needed to be moved. The surgery for both was done last Friday, February 19th.
Initially he gained weight so they were discharged and sent home but within 24 hours he was vomiting again and had a fever of 103, so back to the hospital they went. The answers they have received so far, is that Beau has contracted RSV, which is a very serious respiratory virus that takes months for healthy children to overcome. With sutures still in his belly, coughing has really taken a toll on Beau and they will continue to stay in the hospital until doctors are comfortable with sending him home. There is still a chance that the G Button is yet again in the wrong place, therefore Beau could have to endure yet another surgery in order for him to intake enough to gain weight and grow as normal.
If you know Josh, Beau is his world, he is a devoted father and has had to take several unpaid days off of work to be by Beau’s side to ensure everyone was doing exactly what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately being off of work any longer is not an option for him, so during the day, he has to work, keeping his phone by his side for as many updates as he can get. The moment he is off of work, he drives from Lewisville to Cook’s in Ft Worth to be with his son, where most nights he stays. Then he gets up and does it all over again the next day. Most of us will never know the struggles of having to leave your child in a hospital every day and go to work, attempt to concentrate on keeping a job so that you can pay the medical bills in order to bring a healthy child home someday.
Everyone knows children are EXPENSIVE but when dealing with a very sick child money should be the last thing on a parents mind, but unfortunately that is not the case. As the list of Beau's medical diagnoses grows the hospital bills are growing exponentially right along with them, and even though Beau is insured the out of pocket for his parents is 20%. If you've ever stayed even one night in the hospital you can imagine that when all is said and done this number will be astronomical! If you have followed Beau's story from the beginning I'm sure you have had the thought "I wish there was something I could do." There is, this is so much more than just money, its showing our love and support for these boys. There is no right amount to give even the littlest bit helps, lets show Josh and Beau that we are here and we will fight with them as long as it takes.
Organizer and beneficiary
RobnKathy Grooms
Organizer
Port Angeles, WA
Joshua Boyd
Beneficiary