The Schmitz Family

Hunter was born on Sept 17th, 2018. He was sent home but a week later admitted to the NICU at Children's on Sept 26th and from there diagnosis after diagnosis has been discovered. Initially, they found a very large hole in his heart, called a VSD. Due to the size of the hole, he will have to have open heart surgery to repair it around 6 mons of age. However, Hunter continued to have many symptoms that did not fit with the VSD. He had rapid breathing, agitation & a refusal to eat. He then was diagnosed with a protein allergy which caused necrotizing enterocolitis, which is air in the intestinal wall and can be very dangerous. He was being treated for that but continued to watch his cardiac issues. He also had genetic testing done, and then was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy. The type is still a mystery and could be for quite a long time. This is going to be a lifelong fight for this little guy and his whole family. He will be at Children's for an unforeseen amount of time.