Help the Metz Family as they search for answers!

On October 22nd, Whitney and Jason Metz rushed their 4-year-old daughter Helena to the ER because she had been dealing with a fever and vomiting for two days. She had barely opened her eyes in a couple of days and wasn't drinking or eating much. She was quickly transferred to the PICU and they found that her potassium was too high and her sodium was too low. She was in the hospital for 5.5 days without any clear answers, but was safe to go home.

 

A few days later, she had to go back to the ER due to low sodium levels and low blood glucose levels. She is still in the hospital and her family has not been able to get answers.

 

This is a post from her father, Jason:

On the 22nd of October, Whitney and I took Helena to the ER, expecting her to be diagnosed with a minor illness.

Instead, she was extremely sodium deficient, had a bloodborne bacterial infection, and had strep. She was transferred to a PICU, where she spent the next 5.5 days, being discharged on the afternoon of the 27th. She then had follow-up bloodwork on the 29th, 1st, 3rd, and 5th. On November 7th, we took her back to the ER, where she was admitted back into the PICU where she stayed through Tuesday. She was transferred to the pediatric ward on Wednesday. Through out this entire time, she's been getting blood draws every 12 hours to keep an eye on her sodium levels, so they can ensure it's not dropping rapidly. We're finally getting some answers, but they bring more questions. What we currently know is that she's been diagnosed with primal adrenal insufficiency, resulting in her body no longer producing cortisol or aldosterone, as a result of nonfunctioning adrenal glands. Follow-on testing is occurring to identify any possible damage to her kidneys

For now, all we know is that the staff of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth is doing everything they can to help our little girl.

 

Whitney and Jason are driving back and forth from the hospital multiple times per day, which has added up very quickly in gas costs. They are also eating out for basically every meal due to spending all of their time in the hospital.

 

In the coming days and weeks, the Metz family will need funds for:

 

Jason is currently Active Duty Air Force and Whitney is an Army Veteran. They have both given tremendously to our military community - both to service members and families.

 

Any support you can provide, even $5, would be so greatly appreciated. We want to help alleviate the financial stress from them so they can focus on healing their daughter and family. Thank you so much.