06/16/2025
Francis, another beautiful grant recipient success story thanks to and a hospital match from all of his amazing doctors at AMC: Dr. Nario, Dr. Bar, Dr. Zampieri, and Dr Brundige. Francis was a critical case and a bit of a medical mystery, but the team worked in such an amazing way despite lots of curve balls.
Francis presented on 5/16 for vomiting and a decreased appetite. An ultrasound revealed his stomach was filled with fluid/gas and his GI tract was significantly distended as well. Ultrasound can only reveal so much, but it did appear that there may be a foreign object in the duodenum so an emergency surgery was recommended. During surgery, the duodenum was slightly dilated but there was no foreign body found anywhere. It could be there was a foreign object that had already passed. After surgery, Francis started eating well and keeping his food down, but he had persistent concerning abnormalities on his labs and continued abdominal distention. This excessive fluid in his stomach and intestines indicated his body seemingly was not moving things along the GI tract effectively (delayed gastric emptying).
We’ll never know the exact cause of everything Francis went through, but the doctors sprung into action, modifying the plan as needed through all the twists and turns of this challenging journey. His lab values stabilized with hospitalization, but the delayed gastric emptying was concerning. Even though he was eating well, a nasogastric tube was placed. This tube - usually used to feed - was actually used to remove the excess contents from him stomach during recovery. It was a bumpy road for sweet Francis and his mom, but he continued to improve at home and the feeding tube was removed once there was no longer large amounts of fluid being pulled from it.
It’s now been exactly a month and mom says the he is doing excellent, back to his normal self with only his shaved belly hair slow to grow back as a reminder of all he went through. He looks so darn cute in his little outfit to keep him warm though, don’t you think? Congrats to Francis and mom for making it through such a rough patch! Your strength is so admirable!
