McClain Stout

McClain Stout is 12 years old and a 6th grader at Riverside Intermediate School in Fishers, Indiana. He loves to play football and baseball, listen and play music on his drums and French horn, and like most pre-teen boys, loves to play video games with his brothers! McClain has cystic fibrosis and has been going to Riley Hospital since he was just one week old.

“When I was a week old, I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. For those of you that don’t know what CF is, it’s a genetic disorder that can cause severe damage to the lungs, digestive system, and other organs in the body. In people with CF, a defective gene causes the secretions to become sticky and thick. Eventually, I will be diabetic as having CF wears out my pancreas. I do breathing treatments twice a day-this includes inhalers, nebulizers, and a vest I wear that shakes me and helps loosen my secretions so I can cough them out of my lungs. I also have to be very careful when I play sports since I lose more salt in my sweat than other people which can lead to an electrolyte imbalance.

From the time when I was a baby to when I was about 5 years old, I had regular admissions at Riley for complications with my CF. When I’m admitted in the hospital, I’m put in isolation, so people don’t accidentally carry in germs and make me sicker. This also meant my brothers and friends couldn’t come visit me and it was lonely. I was always really scared because I hate IVs and I would have to go to surgery to get a PICC line that I could go home with. I used to try not to look at it because it was gross. I go to Riley every 3 months for checkups, and I was always nervous that they were going to tell me I had to be admitted.

When you look at me, you just see a happy, healthy kid. From now on, when you look at me, and others like me, I hope you see the difference you make as a result of your hard work, time, talent, and dedication as you raise money for Riley Hospital!”

-McClain Stout