Gray and Ja’bari are undergoing genetic testing, because most forms of the illness are inherited.
“It could be two to three weeks before they have an answer,” said Maldonado, who, like her spouse, works at a Taco Cabana in San Antonio. “They don’t want to treat my son for the wrong thing.”
Doctors in Houston are treating Ja’bari, who weighed only three pounds at birth, with pain medication and frequent dressing changes, along with topical ointments to decrease the chance of infection, Maldonado said. He now weighs 8 pounds and is fed through a tube inserted in his nose.
“He’s been in the hospital his whole life,” said Maldonado, who works as a shift leader at the Mexican fast-food restaurant. “I’ve been able to hold him twice, but you have to be dressed in a gown and gloved-up. It’s not skin-to-skin. It’s not the same.”