Grant Michael Meltzer, now age 6, was born on December 29, 2003 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was a beautiful, happy, healthy and easygoing baby. All was perfect with Grant until he reached the age of 16 months. It was at this time that his parents, Larry & Allison noticed that Grant began to experience some diarrhea and soft stools that never seemed to go away. These types of stools became so frequent that they were sometimes going through 25 diapers a day. By the age of 18 months the diarrhea and soft stools converted to almost all blood and no stool at all.  Initially, Larry & Allison took Grant to see his pediatrician. The pediatrician tested Grant's stool and came up with what turned out to be an incorrect diagnosis.  Larry & Allison became so frustrated that no one could diagnose their son so they decided to find the best pediatric gastroenterologists that South Florida had to offer.  In October 2005, they finally found a group of pediatric gastroenterologists out of Miami Jackson Hospital.

Finally, Larry & Allison felt like they had some direction in the quest to help their son, but they still had no concrete answer as to why this was happening at this young age. The first thing the doctors ordered was a colonoscopy on Grant who was only 22 months old.  The good news was there was finally a diagnosis; the bad news was the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, a disease that Allison suffers from as well.  Grant's parents were told that the doctor's had to stop the colonoscopy at the sigmoid (lower) colon due to the amount of inflammation that the doctors saw.  They were also told that their son's case was probably the rarest and most severe case of ulcerative colitis on a child that they had ever dealt with or had ever seen.  Immediately after the procedure, the doctors spoke to Larry & Allison about removing Grant's entire colon at not even two years of age!!!  Larry & Allison felt that surgery was the last resort and they wanted to try everything possible to prevent Grant from having major surgery.

Thereafter, Grant was put on a regimen of medications called Pentasa and the highest possible dose of Prednisone his body would tolerate. Those medications were barely helpful. The blood and diarrhea continued and 3 more colonoscopies ensued over time. The doctors changed the medication regimen to include an additional max dose of Imuran, which possesses the main side effect of lymphoma and that totally suppressed Grant's immune system. Those medications were worse than the disease and still not helping despite the high doses and the two additional week-long hospital stays for intravenous steroids. Still more blood and Grant was going to the bathroom up to 18 times a day.  Because of the medications and the bleeding ulcers in his colon, Grant became anemic, was put on iron supplements, and was forced to have his blood taken every Tuesday Morning at Broward General Hospital.  His parents were running out of options and Grant was suffering, but they were still hopeful that they could avoid the surgery and Grant would go into remission using the medications.  One of their doctors suggested they see a specialist in Boston and he gave them one last shot at avoiding the removal of their son's colon.

Grant would first be put on a medication called Tacrolemus. In order to get the dose just right, Grant had to be admitted to Miami Jackson for a week and have his blood drawn every 4 hours for that entire week.  The specialist told Larry & Allison that if the Tacrolemus did not help him in 3-4 weeks, he needed the surgery.  They understood. Believe it or not, the Tacrolemus worked. Grant was perfect after four weeks. He had normal stool and he barely used the bathroom. In other words, Grant was in remission and was just like any other child. However, the joy only lasted for 10 months. The pain, the anemia, the inflammation, the constant running to the bathroom all returned. Hope had run out and we were forced to make the decision to have Grant's entire colon removed due to the severity of his disease.

On January 13, 2009, Grant went in for surgery, had his colon removed and began the procedure for his J-pouch.  Grant did great and he initially had an ostomy bag for the eight weeks following the surgery. Some people may look down upon the bag or think it's gross, but it gave Grant a life for the first time. He could go anywhere. No more worrying or having him ask why he couldn't go to Disney World like other kids. It was heartbreaking for Larry & Allison.  He now was finally free and he could do anything!  Grant went to hockey games and played sports, went to the beach and did anything that he wanted to do without worrying if a bathroom was nearby.

The second part of the J-Pouch surgery took place on February 28, 2009. That surgery lasted only an hour and the doctors reversed the ostomy and reconnected his small intestine to the anus to allow Grant to go to the bathroom normally again. He still uses the bathroom more often than most kids right now. Larry & Allison say that Grant is their hero and best friend. He has handled all of this torture with such bravery and grace and inspires his parents every day!