On November 16, 2018, our son Michael Ming Pizzo “Mikey” came into this world a happy boy. On January 11th 2019, when he was just 8 weeks old, Christina placed him in his baby carrier (as she did every day) to walk Olivia, his big sister, from the car to her classroom; and in an instant, our lives were changed forever. Mikey stopped breathing. We do not know when or why he stopped breathing, but when Christina got back to the car to load him into his car seat, he was unconscious. God was watching over him that day as a paramedic was also dropping his child off at school and immediately started CPR on Mikey, while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.    

The cause of Mikey’s cardiac arrest and hypoxia is still unknown, but from what we have been told he had been in full cardiac arrest for nearly 45 minutes. The ambulance took him to Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC), where he spent the day under the care of Medical Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Dr. Jesse Wyatt. Swift action was taken to stabilize him and preparations were made to life flight him to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). 

Day 2 at CHLA, after getting the initial results back from his first MRI, we were advised Mikey’s brain injury was so severe, it was unlikely he would ever wake up. Doctors told us to prepare our family to say “goodbye” as Mikey would need to be taken off the ventilator the following day.

Day 3 at CHLA, a second opinion from the Neurologist reviewing the MRI went further. While the damage was spread across the entire brain, there was new hope, and Mikey was allowed to remain on the ventilator. 

The first week at CHLA was really tough. Mikey had a lot of seizure activity, and there were no signs that our baby boy was going to wake up. Then, on the 6th day post-injury, he started to open his eyes. Two more weeks passed (additional MRIs), and the doctors were ready to see if he could be weaned off the ventilator and breathe on his own. He did it! Next, was the issue of feeding. Before being discharged, he needed to have a feeding tube surgically placed. 

All in all, we spent roughly a month in the PICU at CHLA. Christina and I lived at the hospital full time, while Olivia stayed with her grandparents.

The early days, at home with Mikey, truly tested our strength. He required around the clock care and regularly had issues breathing and swallowing. He was attached to a feeding pump that administered breastmilk thru his G-tube, 24 hours a day, and vomited continuously. We had alarms set every two hours throughout the night to make sure he was breathing and slept with him by our side. 

Slowly, time went on. At six months post-injury, Mikey still did not engage with us. He had no head control and required head support at all times (like a newborn). His eyes often rolled back, as he stared up into space. We were slowly learning that unlike the movies, where folks wake up from a coma and are miraculously healed, our lives would be forever altered.

Through a family friend, we met the Boytim family, and this introduction changed the course of Mikey’s recovery. First, we learned it was crucial to get him to New Orleans to see Dr. Harch, world-renowned HBOT expert, and start Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment. So, we packed up the family and moved to Louisiana. Two long months of daily HBOT treatments, and we began to see significant gains! Mikey began to have enough head control to hold his head up, began bringing his gaze down and slowly started to become more active. 

Our fortuitous visit to Dr. Harch would send us down a path that would combine all of the traditional medical treatments his medical team recommended, e.g., physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc… along with a whole new world of non-traditional treatments some of which include: stem cell therapy in Panama and Mexico, neuro-acupuncture, brain mapping, light therapy, CME, ABM, MNRI and much, much more.

We waited an entire year from the date of Mikey’s injury, before we heard his first laugh. It is now 4+ years post- injury, and Mikey is full of personality. He laughs at his silly sister Olivia, he smiles all the time, and we are witness to positive changes physically and cognitively every single day.

This life has challenged us and pushed us in ways we could have never imagined; however, our faith in GOD and hope for the future keeps us going every day. Every time Mikey smiles, it makes it all worth it.

While this life has no shortage of hard times and bad days, we decided to make this website as a way to share our story with the world. Whether you’re researching for a loved one in your life, or just curious about our adventure, we hope Mikey’s story brings you joy.   

With Love,

-The Pizzo Family

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. 

Matthew 6:34