Last September, just after his 2nd birthday, my son was brought to Mount Sinai’s PICU, and my wife, Meredith, and I felt a sense of calm wash over us. I realize it’s strange for a parent to say, that having her toddler land in the intensive-care unit is a relief. But for nearly a year, our child, Theo, had been exhibiting a series of increasingly debilitating, seemingly discrete symptoms that we suspected were connected to something larger, but none of his doctors could see it. They weren’t even able to diagnose the individual issues. We were terrified we were running out of time—that we were losing him.
But I promise this is a story with a happy ending about how a harrowing bout of stomach flu, two teams of doctors at Mount Sinai, and, strangely enough, a hit song by Justin Bieber saved my child’s life. Yes. I’ll explain.
