Family fund for Doug Nash's brain surgery

The child you see in the photo above is Doug Nash. Until the spring of 2022, he was an average adolescent. He was outgoing, caring, funny and quite intelligent for his age. He had the typical bumps and bruises, including casts on his wrist and elbow from skateboarding. That all changed on May 22nd.

While skateboarding with friends, Doug took a hard fall that left him with multiple facial fractures. With the immediate suspicion of TBI (traumatic brain injury), Doug was airlifted to Harborview Medical center in Seattle while his family hurriedly made the drive to sit by his side. The CT Scan did not show any significant harm to the front of his brain. Within a week, Doug was able to return home to Yakima.

Doug and his family would revisit Harborview and also travel to Children's Hospital to monitor his recovery. At the three-month mark, Doug failed all of the benchmarks the surgeons had for him, and his family noticed a continued downward spiral in his overall health and personality. He started to suffer from double vision and a lack of energy and strength and would sometimes sleep for up to 20 hours a day. His health issues required him to enroll in school on a 504 plan, an accommodation allowing him to learn at the pace he needed while pursuing medical assistance.

Doug's memory and motor skills started deteriorating further, and he developed nausea and vertigo. On September 20th, he received his first MRI. For months, the medical team believed Doug's troubles had been from the skateboarding fall, meaning the CT Scan should have been sufficient to diagnose his problems and not require the additional examination. The MRI told a different story. They found a large pineal cyst measuring 2.5cm x 1.7cm x 1.0cm in AP.

The cyst was pushing his brain both forward and back against his skull. It covers his pineal gland, which controls melatonin levels, affects sleep and helps stabilize one's quality of life, something Doug was severely lacking. Family members started remembering Doug's occasional mentions of headaches or vision problems before his skateboarding accident. This growth may be the root of all his troubles, stemming months before the fall.

Once Doug and his family received the diagnosis, the next problem arose. Pineal cystic tumors are challenging to remove and something that Children's Hospital does not offer. Doug's mom Desiree exhausted hours researching the growth and any possible solutions. She found there were only a handful of surgeons in the world willing to operate and attempt to remove the growth and only one that would work on a child. One doctor. She found the contact information she needed in an article about Dr. Infinger at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), sent an email and hoped for a response.

Almost immediately, her prayers were answered. Dr. Infinger replied and said she had operated on hundreds of these cysts, but this was the largest she personally had seen. The size of Doug's growth is extremely rare, but the doctor said she would not have replied if she didn't believe she could help. They ordered a second MRI, with contrast this time, a month after his previous one, to examine whether it was continuing to grow or was stable. Doug and his family met with Dr. Infinger via Tele-Medicine Zoom, and were thankfully informed there was little change.

Surgery to remove the growth is now set for January 18th, 2023. He will need to arrive a few days before the operation. Once the surgery is complete, the best-case scenario is for Doug to stay in the hospital for 5-7 days. The cyst is so large that once it is removed, Doug will suffer from pain due to a shift in brain pressure that will cause additional headaches and vision problems at the very least. He won't be able to travel for a minimum of two weeks; again, this is the best-case scenario.

Thankfully, most of Doug's medical care will be covered by the insurance his parents have. But, the insurance doesn't cover his travel, nor his family's travel, and their need to stay by his side for what is likely three to six weeks. This fundraiser is not to pay specifically for Doug's care, but for his family to accompany him to South Carolina for surgery and recovery. Doug's parents Desiree and Derek, are no longer together and lead separate lives. As you might imagine, any 11-year-old would want both of his parents to be with him as much as possible through this ordeal.

Travel, accommodations and meal expenses will add up extremely fast for Doug and his family this winter. Once he returns home, that doesn't mean he is out of the woods. The cyst will be biopsied and hoped to be benign. Even with that best case, he will likely need follow-up and rehabilitative care at Children's Hospital in Seattle. Your generosity will help ensure he receives all the loving support he will need for his recovery.

Thank you in advance for reading Doug's story and for any support you are able to offer.