Faith steels boy with illness (mucormycosis)

[Guest guest]

This is awful. Yaeger needs our prayers!!

KC

Faith steels boy with illness

By Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, November 29, 2008 at 7:14 p.m.

Tuscaloosa News - Tuscaloosa,AL,USA

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20081130/NEWS/811290279/1007?

Title=Faith_steels_boy_with_illness

When her son was diagnosed with mucormycosis, Suzi Yaeger did what

many people would do and typed the unfamiliar word into an Internet

search engine.

Phrases including " high mortality rate, " " poor prognosis " and " often

fatal " jumped off the computer screen.

Yaeger, 16, had contracted the very rare fungal infection

from mold in the closet of a home the family leased until September,

doctors found. He has been hospitalized since Oct. 28, hoping that

doctors can get him well enough to perform an operation to remove

his right lung, his mother said.

The infection is caused by fungi that gain access to the mucous

membranes of the patient's nose or lungs, rapidly multiply and

invade nearby blood vessels. The fungi destroy soft tissue and bone,

as well as the walls of blood vessels.

" It's so rare that the doctors were in shock that he had it, " Suzi

Yaeger said.

The doctors told the Yaegers that while the infection is rare, they

have seen one other case in the last six months. Because the

infection eats at tissue, a young girl had to have much of her face

removed and is now blind, doctors told Yaeger.

's mother and father, , sister Ann, 19, and

brother , 22, have been spending their days at UAB Medical

Center, where he ended up after spending days at DCH Regional

Medical Center and Children's Hospital in Birmingham.

The American Christian Academy sophomore was originally diagnosed

with pneumonia, after he had caught bronchitis from his mother who

is a paraeducator for Special Education classes at ville

Primary School.

Antibiotics were only making him feel worse, so he was admitted to

DCH on Oct. 28.

The family had paid a down payment for a home in ville and was

leasing from the owners until September. There were so many problems

with the house, including leaks that they decided to find a home

elsewhere. It wasn't until they moved out that Suzi Yaeger noticed

that a lot of her son's T-shirts were covered in mold and that he

had likely been wearing clothes exposed to the mold for months.

has diabetes and a weaker immune system than the rest of his

family, which may be why the mold affected him so profoundly.

It's been a rough few weeks, he said.

Last week, doctors discovered an obstruction in his colon that could

be from the strong medicine he takes every night for five hours.

Similar to chemotherapy, the strong antibiotics give him chills make

him feel shaky one minute, or might make him nauseous and flushed

the next. He had a painful and uncomfortable nasogastric tube

inserted in his stomach all week to drain it, and has been unable to

eat or drink.

Doctors have had problems regulating his blood sugar levels and high

blood pressure. His lung is so badly inflamed that the sutures would

not hold if doctors performed surgery to remove it now, he said. The

infection is concentrated in the middle lobe, doctors are hoping

that it's the only portion they will have to remove.

With only one lung, knows that it will be much more difficult

for him to continue playing baseball, which he has done since he was

3. He has been a catcher on Hillcrest and ACA teams and was always

on All-Star teams at the end of baseball season.

's other love is University of Alabama football. He's formed a

friendship with running back Glen Coffee, who paid a visit to UAB

Hospital when he learned about his illness after speaking to

students during chapel at ACA in October.

" Before he walked in and I could see him, I thought he was a big ol'

nurse coming to give me a shot or something, " said.

The two have texted and talked on the phone several times since.

Coffee told before the game against LSU that any touchdown he

scored would be dedicated to him, said. Coffee scored in the

third quarter.

has been uplifted by the support of his friends, who he was

text messaging from his hospital bed earlier this week.

Colorful " Get Well " signs from classmates line the walls of his

hospital room and hopeful messages are written on a Web site the

family uses to update friends and family about his condition.

Friends and family from all over the country have wished him well,

people has never met say that they're praying for him. Many

say that they're inspired that he has put so much faith in God since

he became ill.

" My whole life has changed a lot. I've always been a Christian, but

not like this, " he said. " I feel like God is using me to get people

to come to him. If it takes me being sick, it's worth it. "

" We are so thankful for all the prayers, " his mother said. " I don't

know how people who don't have God in their lives handle this. "

Ann, who takes classes at Shelton State Community College

and who has delivered Taco Casa to her brother when he was well

enough to eat, said that all of the siblings have always been close.

" He's inspirational to me, to see how God is working through him and

to see him laying there with a good attitude, " she said.

doesn't know when he'll be able to go home, but hopes he may

be able to leave the hospital for a day or two if his condition

improves.

" We're just playing it all by ear, " Suzi Yaeger said.

People can write messages to and read updates about his

condition at www.caringbridge.org/visit/danielfyaeger.

A family friend has set up a fund for people who have asked about

sending donations to the family. Checks can be made payable to the

Yaeger Fund and mailed to P.O. Box 71330, Tuscaloosa, AL

35407.

Reach at stephanie.taylor@... or 205-

722-0210.