By Ryan Spoehr
Isiac Keller, as soon as you meet him, may seem like any other child his age, He’s energetic. He interacts with family members. He’ll even scribble drawings with pens, and sometimes even his mom’s eyeliner when she’s not looking.
However, that energy can only take him so far.
Isiac, 3, was born with only three chambers in his heart and only one kidney. Since the moment he was born on Dec. 27, 2015, it has been a struggle for his family to help him through it.
“It has been a nightmare; I don’t know how else to describe it,” said Dave Keller, Isiac’s dad.
Almost immediately after birth, Isiac was flown to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
“He didn’t come back until the Fourth of July of 2016,” said Gloria Turczyn, Isiac’s grandma.
When he went home, he had special feedings and had to be put on oxygen at various times throughout each day.
He has gotten better and started to grow.
“He’s been strong enough, so he has been eating on his own and had the tube for feeding taken out,” Gloria said. “Doctors told us between [the ages of] two and three, he would have to have to have the second surgery, depending on how fast he grew, how well his heart was tolerating [and] how well his oxygen because his [was] oxygen gets real low.”
Gloria said he has done well considering the issues, but he doesn’t talk, and doctors are unsure if he will ever talk.
However, there is still some communication between Isiac and his family members.
“I think he has excellent understanding,” Gloria said.
Isiac turned three last December. According to his dad, Isiac has already had his chest opened up five times for doctors to work on him.
Three days after his birth, Gloria qualified to retire. She retired and moved in to help with taking care of Isiac.
Isiac has to be on oxygen periodically, even while at home. His Mom, Tanya, takes him to Marshfield for check-ups twice a week.
Isiac returned to Milwaukee for more treatment on Oct. 18 and did not come back until Feb. 4.
In March, Isiac started to have more problems, such as fluid around the lungs.
“He ended up going back in the hospital and we went back down to Milwaukee. Most of March we were in and out of either Marshfield or Milwaukee,” Gloria said. “We’ve been working very closely looking at his fluid intake and the type of diuretics and medications he’s on. We work with the cardiologist in Marshfield now and the doctors in Milwaukee, so we’ve been home April and May. He’s doing OK. He’s growing. He’s eating, basically by mouth, now. He still has the tube, the gastric tube, to feed him, but he has been better eating by mouth so hopefully [the tube] will come out, hopefully by the end of summer.”
When Isiac was in Milwaukee, his family was happy with his care. The staff even got him a toy truck for him to play in from time to time when he was well enough.
“It is easier to push him in than the stroller,” Gloria said.
(Photo of Isiac Keller in special toy truck)
Isiac Keller sits in a toy truck at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The truck was a gift to Isiac and his family by the staff at the hospital. He was a patient at the hospital for more than six months almost immediately after birth because of a heart defect. Photo submitted
It was difficult on everybody for Isiac to be in the hospital.
Gloria spent the entire time with Isiac there. Isiac’s Mom, Tanya, also was there. Dave was able to go down when he wasn’t working, and he was able to go most weekends through the winter.
“We’re lucky in a sense because we were able to spend time with him,” Dave said.
He was even included in a Christmas parade in Milwaukee and was in a shot of television coverage on a local station in the area. “We’re extremely grateful for the medical staff in Marshfield and Milwaukee,” Gloria said.
Now home, Isiac is on nine medications.
“He’s getting to be, finally, a pretty precious little three-year-old,” Gloria said.
On Saturday, June 8, there will be a fundraising event for Isiac and his family.
Friends of the family, including Mary Ann Ingold, Marcia Gross, Bob Keller, Tim Voigt and Andrea Kruschke, have organized the event.
Their help comes when some of them haven’t even met Isiac in person yet.
“Some of them haven’t even seen him because we try to keep him out of situations where he might pick up something like a cold,” Tanya said.
“We try to keep them updated on his progress through pictures and things,” Dave said.
“If he catches something, it wouldn’t be good,” Gloria said.
It will be at Strike Time :Lanes, 11 S Grand Avenue, Neillsville, at 4:30 p.m., there will be a beanbag tournament. Registration is at 4 p.m., which will be followed by a draw for partners. It is a double-elimination tournament.
At 9:30 p.m., there will be nine-pin tap bowling with a 7 p.m. registration. There will be teams of four-to-six people.
Both events will have entrance fees to raise funds.
There will also be a grilled half-chicken dinner from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. to raise funds.
The event will also feature a silent auction and raffles.
The money raised will help with medical bills and a heart transplant for Isiac. The medical expenses have been a huge burden for the family.
“Just the first trip down to Milwaukee probably cost about $2 million because he was down there for six months,” Dave said.
To donate money or items for the raffle or silent auction, contact one of the event organizers. Items may be dropped off at Custom Heating and Cooling, 216 E. Division Street; Gross Motors, 404 E. Division Street and Drescher’s BP, 210 W. Division Street, all of Neillsville.
