Most 2-year-olds experiencing their first real Halloween may be disappointed when a pencil, sticker, or toy spider shows up in their treat bucket instead of candy.
But little Kai Montoya could not have been happier. The same for his mom, Briana.
She posted a big thank you to Laramie businesses who participated in Saturday’s Laramie Scaramie event because some of their treats went beyond the sweet things — or even eat things.
Why?
Because Kai Montoya can’t eat candy and has been fed through a tube since birth.
“We expected he would come home with bucket full of candy his older siblings — or let’s be honest, us parents — would eat,” Montoya posted. "But we were pleasantly surprised that he ended up with some cool non-food items.
"So, thanks, and a big shout out to the businesses that threw in some non-food items.”
Montoya on Wednesday told Cowboy State Daily that the dinosaur stickers, sticky hands, a notebook, fake spider, and temporary tattoos hit the sweet spot for her little one who while in the womb was diagnosed with complex congenital heart disease.
Montoya said her son was born at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver and had surgery four days after birth. His heart repairs required doctors to move his vocal cords out of the way.
“As a result, his left vocal cord became completely paralyzed and immobile, which was causing him to aspirate all liquids,” she said. “So, he ended up getting a feeding tube placed, and really he just kind of missed the window of learning to eat.”
Kai spent the first month of his life in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit.
Pickle And Potato Chip
Montoya said Kai is allowed to try solids and will occasionally eat a potato chip or a pickle. But 95% to 98% of his meals come through the tube.
That means he’s one of the rare kids for which candy poses no temptation.
“If he is going to eat something, it’s not sweet stuff,” Montoya said. “If there is not enough oral feedback, he’s not interested in it.”
Her son continues to get therapy related to eating is trying to learn and understand the mechanics of chewing and swallowing “but he’s not quite there,” his mom said.
But the otherwise fairly normal 2-year-old does understand Halloween and was excited to go around to the various Laramie businesses with other youngsters spouting out “trick or treat.”
Briana Montoya said she and her wife, Brooke Benson, have been reading Halloween books to him, and when they mentioned trick or treating, he knew what he wanted to be — a skeleton.
“So, he’s really into costumes, he likes skeletons and pumpkins, which was why he was so excited to go down there,” she said.
Whether Kai will be able to eat in the future remains unclear.
Moving Forward
His life now involves tube feedings five times a day and a fairly regimented schedule. A dietician works with the family on Kai’s formula and nutrition.
Briana Montoya said there is also a medical digestive team at Children’s Hospital that works with Kai.
“They think that possibly in later preschool or maybe early elementary school we can look at tube weaning when he just has more of the cognitive ability or the social peer pressure to want to eat,” she said. “There’s a good chance he could.
"We do know there is the possibility that he could be tube fed later in life or maybe his whole life depending on how things go.”
While the heart surgery at birth fixed the heart issues, he still requires checkups related to his heart.
The surgeons also had to remove Kai’s thymus, the organ of the immune system, because it was in the way.
So, immunologic issues are also something that his doctors pay attention to with their young patient.
Overall, the 2-year-old leads a pretty normal life, his mom said, aside from pigging out on candy after a big Halloween haul.
“Nobody would really know his difficulties if they saw him running around and not hooked up to a tube,” she said.
Briana Montoya said since his Halloween outing, which did include some candy in his bucket that she and her two stepchildren are nibbling on, Kai remains focused on his other treats.
“He wasn’t interested in the candy even a little bit,” she said. "But he’s been playing with his spiders and sticky hands."
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
