Carson parents deal with 3 year old's mystery virus

Kyler Paul Finch is a 3-year-old who likes the big slide at Mills Park.

"And he loves to swing," said his father, Paul Finch. "He could swing for two hours, he don't care. He just loves swinging."

But lately the little boy is having blood drawn often and taking medicine 13 times a day.

"He's got bruises all over his arms," said his mom, Nikki Finch. "You can imagine being 3 and having (nurses) come poke you constantly with big needles. He'll see them coming into the room and start screaming, trying to climb out of the bed."

The worst part is, no one is sure why.

"He has an unknown virus in his heart. They did a bunch of tests on him, but they still don't know what it is," said his dad.

The family brought Kyler home from Stanford Medical Center at 2:30 Saturday morning after two weeks. The boy's heart had swelled from the virus, but appears to be getting better.

"Every time they take an echo cardiogram, it's a little smaller -- that's why they let him come home," said his mom.

Kyler, who was born prematurely, has special needs.

"He gets extremely confused really easily," said his dad. "He gets agitated so (the nurses) said we had to stay by his side."

Kyler attends a school for special-needs children aged 3 through 5.

"He's always come first," said his mom. "With his special needs, he has always come first."

Today, they take him to Washoe Medical Center to see a cardiologist.

"They said he might need treatment for the next six to eight weeks," she said.

The Finches are having trouble paying for the expensive treatments.

"So far as I know of, we've got three days' worth," said Nikki Finch.

"We've been staying with him every day. My husband lost his job just to be with him. We're trying to get help through Medicaid, but they're still processing our paperwork."

She said they haven't paid their rent this month and are behind on their electric and phone bills.

Paul Finch said he worked for two years at Chromalloy before moving to a position at High Sierra Patrol, a security firm that patrols Carson Mall.

"They had to let me go because they had to hire someone to fill my spot," he said. "It was a good company."

The Finches are looking for help paying their bills while they deal with Kyler's mysterious illness.

"We'd appreciate anything anyone could do to help," said Nikki Finch.

Meanwhile, she and Kyler play a lot of "SpongeBob Uno" with pictures of the Nickelodeon cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.

"I took him to the park everyday before this happened," she said. "Otherwise, he would drive me nuts. Normally, he's very, very hyper. Now he's just been sitting, watching TV, and sleeping."

You Can Help

Send a donation to help support the Finches in dealing with Kyler's heart condition:

Nikki and Paul Finch

216 South Carson Meadows

Carson City, NV 89701

Or call them at 884-0247.