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Greencastle teen fighting back against serious fungal infection
What appeared to be “just bug bites” on a Greencastle teen turned out to be much more.
Instead, 14-year-old Garrett Hillers turned out to have blastomycosis, an infection that was spreading through his body, affecting more than just his legs.
The son of Serena and Ned Hillers, Garrett was diagnosed in March of this year with the debilitating infection after days and nights of extreme pain, several trips to see the pediatrician and a trip to the emergency room in Danville.
The Hillers family wound up at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where doctors at the Ryan White Center for Pediatric Infectious Disease and Global Health Center at diagnosed Garrett with blastomycosis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, blastomycosis is a fungal infection found primarily in heavily wooded areas or outside the U.S., such as in Canada or India. This fungus can be found on decomposing wood or leaves and the spores can be breathed in. People are more at risk if they participate in foresting, construction, hunting, camping or any outdoor activity.
The common symptoms of this infection are flu-like (cough, achy muscles, weight loss, sweating, etc.) with the most common symptom being a fever. Most people who inhale the spores are not affected by it unless they have a weakened immune system. However, it can take anywhere between three weeks to three months before the symptoms appear. The number of blastomycosis cases reported are, according to the CDC, 1 to 2 per 100,000 persons.
The Hillers learned of the nature of the infection in a roundabout way, having first been diagnosed as strep throat, then rheumatoid arthritis.
The rheumatoid arthritis specialist at Riley then sent Garret on to the Infectious Disease Center.
After a four-hour MRI exam, the Hillers were told by Riley nurses to expect a call soon. They went home and had friends over on a Friday night when Serena got a call from Dr. John Manaloor at Riley.
“It’s not normal when you get a call from your doctor at 10 o’clock at night,” Serena said. “He asked what he (Garrett) was doing right now and I told him he was playing videogames with his cousins. Dr. Manalore was taken back by this.”
Manaloor then called Garret “a miracle child with the level of infection that was in his body.”
Garrett apparently got the infection at some point last summer, when he visited a number of bodies of water around the community, including at Jaycee Park, Albin Pond, the DePauw Nature Park and his grandparents’ pond. The symptoms appeared with blisters on his legs and spreading to other areas of his Garrett’s body
His immune system was putting up a strong fight against this infection.
Catching doctors off-guard, the disease had become severe. When the infection becomes severe, according to the CDC, blastomycosis can spread to the skin, bones, joints, lungs and even the brain, affecting areas of the brain impacting a patient’s personality and their retention of information.
Now an eighth-grader at Greenastle Middle School, Garrett has a team of doctors at Riley who are watching his brain, bones, and other areas. All hands were on deck during the first surgery — Garrett’s very first surgery — on July 1, which removed part of the infection from is ankles, thoroughly cleaning the bone, and building up his legs.
“The spot of the infection is where his growth plate is,” says Serena, quoting Manaloor, so there is a possibility that it could stunt his growth.
While at home, Garrett has had to take medicine through an IV as well as pills. Garrett has also had to have a potassium chloride IV to help his kidneys filter out the bile since the medicine also affects his body in dehydrating it.
Ned also reports that his son is “drinking over three liters of water” a day.
From this point, the Hillers have a year’s worth of appointments for labs, the team of doctors at Riley and their local doctors in order to keep an eye on the infection.
All of this means higher and higher medical bills for the Hillers as they try to keep the infection at bay and save their son’s life. For example, each unit of one of his medicines costs $5,921.08.
Outside of the trips to Riley, Garrett is upbeat.
He likes to learn and play guitar with his teacher Michael Stevens, play videogames, look at classic cars and even take things apart and puts them back together. He repairs some of his friends’ videogame controllers and other electronics.
When he is able to, Garrett likes to ride his bike, four-wheeler and play football. Yet the infection is keeping him from doing those activities for the time being.
When asked about how he faces not doing activities he likes to do because of the infection, Garrett said he “does other things that make me happy and keep me positive,” showing that while battling an infection such as blastomycosis, you can still have fun.
Besides her own son, Serena is concerned for other kids and their families who might contract the disease. Some signs to avoid include anything that is decomposing, no turning over logs or rocks and avoid the water if you have open cuts.
She recommends that after going fishing or being in heavily wooded areas, keep any eye on your children if they start having pain throughout their body and complains of aching joints.
Anyone wanting more information on blastomycosis, can find it on the CDC website.
The Hillers also have a GoFundMe page to help with the costs of the medicine, doctor appointments, labs and surgeries.
Anyone wishing to donate may do so at www.gofundme.com/f/13-year-old-with-blastomycosis.
As of Thursday afternoon, $1,115 of a $200,000 goal had been raised.