Pediatric GI: Ethan's Story - Boys Town Pediatrics
He was five.
He had just started kindergarten and he started
having just chronic stomach aches.
He would cry himself to sleep every single
night.
I just knew from the get-go that something
was wrong.
I was always tired.
I was always not feeling good and I saw all
my friends that were having fun playing at
recess and I was always the one that just
had to take a break.
After trying a few simpler remedies, acid
reflux, things like that, we contacted our
pediatrician and he recommended that we go
ahead and see a specialist and start down
that avenue.
He was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease.
It was a word I didn’t know.
It was a word I wasn’t comfortable with
and of course, now in today’s age, we have
way too much knowledge at our fingertips.
He was always a kid that was off the charts,
size, height, weight.
From the moment he was born, he was a ten
pound baby and we’re watching him shrinking.
He is severely losing weight, losing lots
of baby teeth and then teeth aren’t growing
in.
We just knew everything had kind of stopped.
So when they gave me a name to it, I was really
afraid.
I do remember saying things to God of am I
going to lose my son?
I love Dr. Kunnath.
He is my favorite.
He really cares about me and the well-being
of me.
He notices that I love to play sports and
he makes sure that that is one of my top priorities,
is getting me healthy and getting me to be
able to play my sports.
He cares about us.
He takes time to laugh with us, to know Ethan
in his life, to ask him questions, to make
sure that we’re not just recovering and
managing this disease, but that he’s thriving.
He’s enjoying school.
He’s able to participate in sports.
He pays attention to what is important to
Ethan and makes that a value for him too.
I take my morning medications in the morning,
a couple pills but besides that, I go to school
and I have a great day.
He’s doing wonderful right now.
When you see him and you talk to him, you
would never know he’s sick.
We know we can’t take it for granted.
The thing that I love about the attention
that Boys Town is giving to Crohn’s and
Ulcerative Colitis is that we are doing research
and we’re finding new medications.
It gives me hope as a parent to know, okay
if we hit another hiccup, we know there are
more options out there, but he’s managing
well and he’s strong and healthy.
The more people that you got fighting with
you and the more people that will help you
with your fight, it just makes it a lot easier
for you and a lot less stressful.
