Ronald McDonald House Charities

Our story started in September of 2008 when God moved our Family from Orange County to Menifee, about 11 miles north of Temecula. Our son was born on 12/16/2003. I knew it was known about because when I was a teenager I took care of a little boy at 2 months who also had this same disease. Our son was Born with Hirshsprungs Disease. A disease of the Colon. We knew shortly after coming home with Caiden that something was not right with him. He was very small and would not take his bottle, he was constipated all the time and he would lose weight instead of gaining weight, i know most babies lose weight after they are born, but we knew something was just not right. We said ok we are over reacting. 2 month check up the doctor asked how things were going and we said not well. He is very constipated and has a very hard time pooping, he said this is normal, some babies have a harder time then others, I said he tends to spit up a lot after we feed him, but he spits up a lot. They told us to change formula and start adding rice cereal to his bottles, but you need to go buy the Dr. Browns. So we tried that and he still fused over those, He just had a really hard problem gaining weight, We tried 3 different doctors and they all said the same thing. They told us to go out and buy baby drop Laxatives and that should relieve his constipation, which it did but we still knew something was not right.. So at 4 months we started him on Oatmeal. He loved it. We still gave him 4 bottles a day and he would never drank more then 4 6 ounces - onces he was abe to start eating people food he had this instant gag reflux - he would gag on anything - we were always prepared, so what would ever go in, instantly came out. So there again he could not gain weight. Still his doctors were like oh he seems fine. At 8 months we moved and we had a new Doctor, Thank Goodness. She was very concerned at 1st, and then we found out he had Asthma - great something else for him to have and he has it horrible bad. It would be that if he coughed he would throw up. She said he could not even make it on the weight chart but on the height chart he did. He still @ 2 years had asthma so bad that she referred us to go see a allergist to have testing done. He was allergic to everything, even air. He would walk outside and come back in and be one huge hive! We lived at the Allergist for the next 2 1/2 years, the kept him out of the ER most of the time - His eating never did get better and his pooping just conitnue to get worse. I potty trained him ( Pee) at 3 1/2 and tried to poop train him@ 4 and he told me mom I cannot feel it when it comes out. Right away I knew something was seriously wrong. I asked his doctor to do a poop test, she said there is nothing wrong, he is trying to control you with his poop issue, I see this all the time ( make it my problem) He was in a pre-school program and they told me that a lot of kids take longer too poop train then other and don't worry about it. It will still in the back of my head. We started praying about moving- If we stayed in Orange county - Where would Caiden go go school, We needed to find a Better doctor because everyone thought we were over reacting to his issue and we clearly knew something was wrong with him, I was not feeling well either for close to 4 years and everyone kept telling me that I was fine and go out and excerise. We needed a new group of doctors to complete review his history and we wanted to buy a home, we just did not know where. Within 10 months, God opened a door for us here in Menifee- Home prices were unbelieve and so afforabe for us. We rented out our Townhouse for the time being and our house was built. After we moved, I meet with a doctor here in Menifee and she told me to put Caiden on 5 different Laxatives and come back in a month, I said are kidding, he will be dead. We finally found Colette Grant in Murrietta and she took one look at him and I explained all of his symtoms and she said it sounds like he has Hirshsprungs Disease. I stood there with my mouth open and said there is a name for this? She was amazing! I said I knew there was something wrong with him - not to label our child but I knew once we brought him home from the hospital on the 19th of December, 2003 something was not right. Nobody believed us until we came here today. NOBODY! We have waited 4 1/2 years for someone to say there is something wrong with him.

She sent us off to have an ultra sound done that afternoon so we went and had that done, she said I will call you within the next couple of days to let you know so we went and had dinner and she called with 2 hours and said you need to head to Children's Hospital in San Diego, because he has this massive Tumor in his stomach the size of a Cantalope and they will be expecting you. We did not know what to expect. It turned out to be this HUGE mass of poop sitting in his stomach. It took them 1 week to dissolve this mass- They had to do 6 other rest within the next 3 months to determine if he did in fact have Hirshsprungs Disease. We were in the hospital 4 more times during that period because that mass kept returning. In December of 08 he had a Biopsy to see if he had Hirshsprungs and the Surgeon kept telling me he does not have it, he does not have any of the signs of it, I looked at him and I said he has every single sign of it. Within 5 days, DR. Grant called me at 6:30 am and said He has it. This was one time in our lives we wanted him to have something so they could fix the problem. We knew all those years there was something seriously wrong with him. He had 2 Surgeries on the in Janurary 09 - They took 6 inches of his diseased colon and they also put in a colostmy bag - to let the inside of his colon heal, since it was so distended for so long. In May of 09 the did the take down of the Colostomy and put everything back in it's place. He had back to back infections for the last 9 months, but this last time we were in Hospital - Ronald Mcdonald house called us and said we have a place for you to stay. We have been at the hospital 11 different times, sometimes for a week sometimes for a month. January of 09 - I went to the Ronald mdDonald house to go have a shower and the house was so small it was a 2 hour wait. So recieving this call this time, was huge for us. My husband and I felt so honored to stay there, a place of peace, quite time, a place to take a hot shower, to get out of the hospital for awhile. We have spent so much time there. We know all the nurses and there response is you're back again.

It was truly a gift to stay at the Ronald M house. I was so overwhelmed with emitons to stay there. To have our own room. We were not in a finacial place this time to go get a hotel room and driving to and from our home back and forth each day was so much wear and tear on both of us emotionally, when your child is so sick. It was so wonderful to just walk across the street. To have this room all to yourself so you can go in an renew yourself for the next day is huge! We only have Caiden, But I know so many families there have kids. They have a wing just for families and a wing for families with kids. It is a

BEAUTIFUL HOUSE, we both felt so honored to stay there, Thank you for taking us in and giving us a place to stay during that week. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I am glad to report that this time around in the hospital, we had a great team of doctors who worked day and night to find out what was causing all these infections, he had another biopsy on the 29th of January and they wanted to see if there was anymore diseased colon - it came back negative. He has been on a probiotic now since the 20th of January and is doing wonderful on it. No signs of infections, is eating so well, he has never had a chance to eat this much food in his entire life!

I also want to Thank the women who called me on that Sunday - I cannot remember her name, but you were amazing! You told me we could stay there for as long as we needed too. It was huge for my husband and I. They released us early, which freaked me out, but they knew what they were doing, and he is doing wonderful. Prayer is so powerful. We had people all of the country praying for our son Caiden. for the last year and half... It has been amazing!

Thank you for your love, support and understanding in what parents go through. It is life changing and having you by our sides, giving people hope and a place to stay is the unthinkable and it changes people lives. Giving us a place to stay, to unwind, a different place to go and a place to sleep -

Thank you again! with Gratitude!

Blessings

Karen & Peter Geisterfer