By Rebecca Kadlez
Mommy to Theo
Hirschsprung’s Disease
Born November 2022
Theo and his twin brother were born at 35 weeks and entered foster care shortly after birth. At just a few days old, Theo was labeled “failure to thrive.” In his first year of life, he was moved seven times before finally coming home to us in March of 2024.
When Theo arrived, he was on a G-tube for feeding, taking multiple medications to help with bowel function, and weighed only 14 pounds. Despite everything, he was still considered failure to thrive. We knew before he came to live with us that he was really struggling. We also knew that taking on the challenge of a medically fragile child, when we already had children in the home, was no small feat. But we also knew Theo deserved a loving family to help him heal, grow, and thrive, no matter how long he would be a part of this world.
Our biggest hope in the beginning was simply to keep our boys together and make sure they were happy, healthy, and truly part of a family.
As soon as Theo and his brother came to live with us, we began working closely with a pediatric GI team, determined to find answers for our boy. Within a few months, we learned that Theo had Hirschsprung’s disease, a congenital birth defect that should have been diagnosed within the first six weeks of life.
Because the condition had gone untreated for so long, Theo’s colon had stretched to four times its normal size. Finally getting his diagnosis—and a plan to move forward for healing—felt like Theo had been given a second chance at life. Knowing there was a way for him to heal and grow and thrive was one of the happiest moments our family had experienced. We are a whole. We are a team. We are happy and sad together.
Theo’s journey involved many hospital stays. For six long months, he lived with a temporary ostomy, which brought constant challenges, including prolapsing, infections, and multiple emergency surgeries. One of those surgeries lasted nearly six hours and required drain tubes, IVs, an epidural, and more.
Juggling hospital life, our jobs, and our other children was no small feat. We are a big family—my husband and I have nine children total, with six still at home between the ages of 8 and 2. But with the support of our loving family and community, we were able to get through.
During one of Theo’s hospital stays, I met a friend who was also a foster and adoptive parent walking through many of the same struggles. She told us about On Angels’ Wings. They did our first session in July of 2025 with me and the twins.
Through it all, Theo showed incredible resilience. Just six weeks after his final surgery, he was able to have his G-tube removed. Today, he is on his healing journey, and although having Hirschsprung’s disease may always affect parts of his life because of the section of colon that had to be removed, he is now able to function and grow like a normal toddler with very limited restrictions.
Theo and his twin brother turned three in November, and they are typical, thriving toddlers. Theo is happy, healthy, and wild in the very best way. He has the funniest personality. He loves to snuggle and make people laugh. He also loves to wrestle with his twin brother—even when it’s definitely not the right time or place. We’re still working on that one.
Our hope for Theo moving forward is that he always stays humble, kind, and a fighter. More than anything, we want him to keep fighting for life, for love, for hope, for dreams, and for happiness.
I think On Angels’ Wings gives families not only memories that will last forever, but also a platform to talk about what they’ve been through, to raise awareness, and to build a community of people who have walked similar journeys and can stand together through the hardest times. Having a platform to talk about Theo’s journey—and our journey as a family—has been incredibly healing for us as a whole. The photos taken with the boys are memories they will have forever. They will show them the strength they carried and remind them that no matter how sick they were or how many homes they were in, they always stayed together.
Theo is truly our miracle boy.
