SEQUIM — Family members seek prayers and support for a Sequim baby after he was diagnosed with a rare disorder last month.
Gerald Ladd remains in Seattle Children’s Hospital after doctors diagnosed him at 4 months of age with a disorder in which fats build up in his organs instead of being removed.
Gerald has spent more than a month in the hospital.
No cure is known at this time, but his parents, Tim and Kerry Ladd of Sequim, are seeking treatments to give him the best life possible, family members said.
Updates continue to go online daily at the gofundme campaign site, tinyurl.com/PDN-Baby-Fund, where donations help offset the family’s medical costs.
Family members said doctors are now pursuing an experimental treatment from St. Louis, Mo., that could help Gerald.
Originally the family needed to go to Missouri, but doctors made the treatment available in Seattle.
Family members remain hopeful, with Kerry Ladd writing, “The treatments on children in St. Louis have shown stabilization in liver function and some improvement with this drug.”
“We are so grateful for all the medical staff who are diligently working to help our son heal,” family members wrote.
“We know there is still no cure for him, but we put our hope and trust in the one who created him.”
In the latest update on Tuesday, Kerry Ladd wrote that the trial medication had been started.
It will be given to him twice a week for nine weeks. She added that his kidneys were showing signs of stress.
If he becomes healthy enough to be discharged, the family plans to fly to St. Louis for the remainder of the trial.
Family wrote it will be two weeks before they know if the drug is having an effect.
“Continue to pray for improvement in his liver function, for no new infections or challenges in his body, and for no negative reactions to the trial medication,” Kerry Ladd wrote.
“Thank you all again for your prayers and support. We are so grateful for all the love poured out to Gerald and our family.”
To read more updates and/or donate to support the Ladd family, visit tinyurl.com/PDN-Baby-Fund.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
