Support Theo's Fight for Diagnosis

Hi! My name is Theo!

When I was 6 weeks old, my mom and dad noticed that I was not breathing quite right. They took me to my pediatrician who confirmed something was indeed not right. I was breathing at 80 breaths per minute, had an extremely high heart rate, and was showing severe retracted breathing. We were sent to the hospital ER immediately to get me checked out. When we got there, the hospital dismissed my parents saying I had a virus as every baby did at that time, even though I was showing no signs of respiratory illness. My parents took me back to the pediatrician over the next 2 days, being sent to the ER both times. The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh said that “they didn’t know what was going on” and sent me home after a 3-day admission.

Over the course of the next few months, I continued to have more episodes of bad breathing. My parents took me to the ER per the pediatrician's advisement so many times with still no answer. So they decided it was time to get another opinion as my O2 levels were dropping to dangerous levels amongst other concerning symptoms and Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital was not taking us seriously.

I am now being treated at the Children's Hospital of Akron and they are digging into what the root cause might be. I was given a sleep study which confirmed that I am having major instances of sleep apnea. My doctors are currently testing me for Chiari Malformation. If I have this, I will most likely need brain surgery. If this is negative, my medical work up will continue until we find what is going on. The doctors at this point have called me a medical anomaly.

As you can imagine, this has taken a tremendous financial and emotional toll on my parents. They have had to take unpaid time off of work, pay for gas, food, and hotels while traveling to get me the proper care.

We have held out as long as we could but are now asking that if you are able to donate, even a little bit, anything helps. We truly appreciate your support!