Several Riley teams collaborate to identify and treat the source of Bode Boyer’s infection as he hopes to get back in the game.
By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
Bode Boyer has always been an active kid. The 14-year-old loves baseball and basketball – really all sports – just like his dad.
But his time on the baseball diamond and the basketball court came to a screeching halt after a bout with Covid in August led to a sinus infection, which then traveled into his right eye (swelling it shut) and eventually seeping into his skull.
A scary situation for sure, but the Angola, Indiana, teen and his parents, Brian and Emily Boyer, are seeing a little more clearly today, following Bode’s emergency treatment and continued follow-up at Riley Hospital for Children.
Bode, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was just 5 years old, is used to doctor visits and medicine, but needle sticks and surgery and spending several days in the hospital were way beyond his comfort level.
He initially had surgery at a hospital closer to his northern Indiana home to clear up the sinus infection, but it eventually worsened, likely due to medication he takes for Crohn’s, which lowers his immune response.
“He kept getting worse and worse,” Emily Boyer said. “He had terrible headaches, his eye was swollen shut, he was miserable.”
Bode was taken to the emergency department at Riley in November and went in for surgery the next morning to drain the abscess around his eye.
Neurosurgeon Dr. Jignesh Tailor is among the physicians on his care team. Initially, it was his job to consult with infectious disease ophthalmology, and ear, nose and throat teams to ensure the infection was controlled to protect the brain.
Bode was suffering from osteomyelitis, which occurs when bacteria or other micro-organisms enter the bone and multiply, causing inflammation and damage.
“The neurosurgery team was involved because the infection involved his skull as well,” Dr. Tailor said, adding that it was unusual for the infection to encroach into the space around the brain.
“That’s a concerning sign,” he said. “When we saw that, we knew the first thing was to get rid of the source of the infection.”
The surgery to drain the infection around the eye helped, as have the antibiotics Bode has been on since the surgery, but it’s unclear if it will be enough to clear the infection from the bone, Dr. Tailor said.
“If we can’t treat the infection in the bone, which is quite hard to do with medicine alone,” he said, “we have to essentially cut out that piece of bone and then place an implant to replace the missing piece.”
Miraculously, Bode was able to open his eye within a couple of days of the eye surgery and was discharged from Riley after six days.
While there, he bonded with nurse Angie Parsley on the ninth floor over baseball and all things sports.
“He was one of the sweetest patients I’ve ever had,” Parsley said. At the same time, she said, he’s a typical teenage boy, right down to the attitude.
“He does have bad days, especially when it comes to needles or an IV,” his mom said. “He has a huge phobia, but the nurses made him feel comfortable anytime they had to poke him.”
Parsley remembers.
“He definitely would give you sass. And when he felt better, he would joke around, so we mixed well together.”
When he left the hospital, he presented Parsley with flowers.
“They were seriously some of the prettiest flowers I’ve ever gotten from anyone,” she said.
Bode was back at Riley in mid-December for follow-up appointments with infectious disease and neuro. His eye has healed, and his vision has been unaffected, his mom said.
The infection has not gotten worse, but it hasn’t gotten better either, she said. After another 30 days of antibiotics, he will be re-evaluated.
“He has honestly been such a fighter and just kind of deals with the hand he has been dealt. His friends have kept him busy by just coming over and playing video games,” she said.
After sitting out the first semester of school, he has returned on a modified schedule this month, and while he can’t play basketball or baseball yet, he has been able to spend time with both teams.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tailor said his team at Riley will continue to follow Bode, guided by the infectious disease team and focused on protecting the teen’s brain.
“At some point, we’ll have to determine if more treatment is necessary,” he said, including surgery.
“But on the whole, I think he has done well. His outlook is good as long as we’re able to get rid of all the infected tissue.”
Bode’s mom is grateful for his Riley team and the community that has supported them at home, saying it is a precious gift that they don’t take for granted.
“We really can’t ask for a better team working with him. Riley saved his life, and seeing how much progress he has made since September is a huge blessing.”
Photos submitted and by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist, mdickbernd@iuhealth.org