TEMPLE, Texas — 5-year-old Michael Kelley is someone who is full of life and never meets a stranger.
The Central Texas kid enjoys playing with his toy trucks and inviting people he meets to dinner with his family.
Michael was diagnosed with autism at a young age and more recently epilepsy. In the last couple of weeks, his parents Chris and Sherry said they feel like they are in a vicious circle. That's because the medical issues continue for their young one.
"He had his first pretty big seizure, which led us to some more imaging and then we found out he had the Chiari Malformation," Sherry Kelley said.
Scans at Michael's recent hospital stay showed he's dealing with the condition that stems from the back of his skull not forming properly leaving space for his brain to go lower on his spine, leaving a cyst.
"He has really bad headaches, like migraines, pretty consistently," Sherry added. "Leg pain that wakes him up in the middle of the night, so he's not sleeping real well and then he's kind of just uncomfortable all the time."
Sherry and Chris are now trying to navigate through the changes.
"We're trying to do the best we can to find some treatment for his symptoms to give him some relief until we can get him in surgery to get this fixed," Chris said. "We just want our little boy back."
Michael's condition doesn't have a cure and brain surgery is the only thing that might alleviate the challenges ahead.
"The risk of surgery at this point does not outweigh the potential benefits of it," said Sherry. "I mean, you're talking about a major brain surgery, you're opening up his brain, spinal cord, all of it."
The Kelley's are taking it day by day and advocating for their son, just like they did when this all started with headaches, nose bleeds and high blood pressure.
“Mommy instinct is real," Sherry said. "When you feel that something's not right or we need to push for some more answers to just follow your gut on that."
The family is looking to get more opinions on what's best for Michael to ensure he gets to live life to the fullest and enjoy the things that every 5 year old does.
Friends of the Kelley family have started a GoFundMe to help them with medical costs going forward. Michael will have to get many scans going forward to keep monitoring his condition. If you would like to donate or stay updated on his journey, click here.
"We're just blown away by the love and support people have shown us," Chris said. "We have people calling us, texting us, emailing us and coming out of the woodwork just wanting to check on him and love on us and love on him and that's the most important thing to me."