A little boy named Kyle has a serious medical challenge and needs help. We have put his mother’s story onto this blog in case anyone who reads it will be able to to assist in any way.
Lanita recently joined the staff at Buitenverwachting restaurant; Lars Maack has very kindly agreed to give her the space to organise a function at Buitenverwachting to raise some much needed funds for her son's medical attention.
The story contains details of the function Lanita plans. Here it is:
My name is Lanita, mother to 6 year old Kyle who was a healthy and happy little boy until he was 2 years old. Since then we have had a nightmare experience with Doctors and Kyle's health which continues to be very serious. Expenses are huge and we can't cope.
I work for Buitenverwachting and mentioned my problems to them. They have generously sponsored the venue etc for a fund raiser (see attachment) on the 2nd of June 2012. We need sponsors that can assist in making the event truly GREAT. Sponsors will be listed on all tickets, websites promoting the event and advertising that goes out. We are also fortunate to have the support of a radio station.
We will also be selling “stand space” @ a rate of R350.00 for the day, for you to sell your items and promote your own company. We can however only have 20 stands, so first come, first served.
If there is any way you can assist us with anything we would greatly appreciate it. Should you have any queries you can contact me on 079 584 9515 or bbm 22CC660E for more information.
Kyle's story:
Kyle was born via emergency c-section on the 6th September 2005.
He was the perfect angel with no illnesses in his first 2 years of life – then it all went downhill from there. He started getting a lot of colds and terrible ear infections, we soon discovered due to a bad reaction that he was allergic to penicillin and after seeing a doctor every 2 weeks for the infections we were sent to an ENT specialist
In September 2008 he had his first operation, grommets inserted and adenoids out. This helped with the ear infections and we were able to go 3 months without ear infections before it all started again, this time with the added complication of tonsillitis in the mix.
However, we soon discovered another problem and Kyle had another op in Sep 2009, a circumcision. During this time we carried on treating the ear infections / colds and tonsillitis.
We managed to get through 2010 without any problems, consulting the doctor every 3-4 weeks.
In January 2011, we were advised again by our ENT to have operations done on his ears, the op was done on a Monday, a replacement ear drum was inserted and as he was going to be under anaesthetic, I requested that they remove his tonsils.. The op went well apart from the fact that he had a bad reaction to the anaesthetic. After a long stay in hospital we were allowed home. After a few days Kyle was complaining that his stomach was sore and he was extremely unwell. I thought it was a reaction to be the op and the fact that he hadn’t eaten much since the Monday. By Saturday he was still very ill and I took him to Constantiaberg Emergency, they said he was fine – he just had an ear infection again and a temp and after some antibiotics would feel much better. That evening I made him a bed on the lounge floor while I watched TV. He was terribly restless and I tried to soothe him when suddenly blood started running out of his nose and mouth. I rushed him to hospital leaving my house unlocked in my panic..
I fetched his grandmother on the way to Constantiaberg. When a doctor saw us, he told me that Kyle was fine and that it was just a little residual blood from the operation but that he would admit Kyle for the night for observation. I phoned his father, Johan, who was at work and told him to come to the hospital. This was at 24.15. At 24.25 Johan walked through the door – Kyle was much calmer after seeing his dad. He told his father that he felt sick and started vomiting blood. I ran for the doctor who was sitting relaxing in the lounge... We were still in the emergency room. I then asked him (not so politely) if this was normal. The doctor went pale and there was a hive of activity around my son's bed. He couldn’t breathe as every time he breathed the blood came up. We were then told that Kyle needed to go back into theatre as he had internal bleeding.
At last they took the situation seriously and by 2.30am Kyle was in theatre again and Johan and I were pacing the room waiting for our son. We then saw a nurse run from theatre and bring back the “rhesus” machine. I kept saying to Johan “he is the only one on the table so it can only be for him”. After 2 hours they brought Kyle out and we were able to see him in recovery. Once he was awake he was transferred to ICU. Johan left the hospital at 5.30 to go home and sleep and I sat by my sons bed. I didn’t realise how close we had come to losing him until the nurses started telling me what had happened. There had been internal bleeding for +-2 days and his stomach was filled with blood – he had lost a lot of blood!
After discharge Kyle continued to complain of a sore stomach and by November the pain was so bad he wasn’t even able to walk. His Paediatrician admitted him to hospital for tests. They discovered that Kyle had nodes in his stomach and more antibiotics were prescribed and allergy tests done. The paediatrician asked me to see him immediately.... he had 4 pages of allergies... – Nuts, egg, cows milk, wheat, soya beans, fish, apples, kiwi fruit and various other plants, animals etc. This caused major stress in our house and our whole diet had to change and this costs an extra R3000.00 a month. A huge expense to alter the diet for the whole family! Yet if it isn't done my child cannot survive.
By January 2012 we were back at the ENT for another ear infection. I mentioned to him that Kyle was struggling at school and that I had to put him into a new school as he just wasn’t coping – he struggled with speech and counting. I was advised to take him to the audiologist for a hearing test so off we went.
My world was shaken when she told me that Kyle had very bad hearing and that he was technically deaf and that we needed to consider a hearing aid. She sent me to the ENT and the very next day my son was back in theatre for more ops on his ears. We then had the hearing tests repeated and there were was only a slight improvement. I was told Kyle needed speech therapy and needed to be constantly monitored and that he would definitely need a hearing aid at a later stage. I was also told that we weren’t out of the woods and still had a long road to walk and that I should be prepared for the hearing aid that he would eventually need.
In April he complained of stomach cramps again and he was clearly not well. We took him to see the Paediatrician, this time, he had severe flu and was diagnosed with asthma – more suffering for Kyle, more medication and more expense.
His ear drums burst again over the weekend and we were back at the ENT on Wednesday – he did a whole lot of tests on the “pus” in his ears and he has been put on chronic medication, we have also been told to come back in 2 weeks time to discuss the way forward and more surgery options.
We got the results back last week and Kyle has a water born bacteria in his system at the moment and all his meds have had to be changed – we have to get rid of the bacteria before we can move forward with anything.
We battle his asthma and allergies on a daily basis and the problem of the ears and his lack of hearing...
The question I ask now is this – will it ever end????
Our medical aid is finished and we are sitting with a mountain of medical bills and more are coming in daily. He goes weekly for speech therapy which we must pay out of our pockets as the medical aid is finished. In rough expenses for his medical requirements and schooling we are looking in the region of R10 000.00 per month.
As a mother I feel hopeless because I cannot give my child what he needs. You feel terrible as you want to be able to help your child and give him the best of everything, but how can you do that when the cards are stacked against you?
Kind regards,
Lanita Bredenhann
