When Dr. Kaitlin Wiseman’s nine-month-old daughter, Romy, was diagnosed with infantile inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), her world stopped.
“Being told your baby has IBD at such a young age is almost unheard of. For us, it was a terrifying reality.”
Infantile IBD is incredibly rare and often harder to treat, something Kaitlin and her family experienced firsthand.
Romy began showing symptoms shortly after birth, and they gradually worsened over the following months. At first, the family thought it might be an allergy to milk or a reaction to something Kaitlin was eating while breastfeeding. They worked with a nutritionist and even saw a gastroenterologist, who ran blood tests to rule out milk protein intolerance.
Then came an incredibly difficult winter. Romy caught Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) at the end of 2024, which worsened her bleeding. In January 2025, another virus pushed her immune system into overdrive. By early March, the entire family—including her three-year-old son, Leo—was sick with the flu. One weekend soon after, Kaitlin saw how much blood Romy had lost overnight, and knew something was seriously wrong. They rushed her to the emergency room, where she was admitted and stayed for nearly a month.
A colonoscopy and biopsies confirmed IBD; but that was only the beginning. Romy didn’t respond to steroids or the first medications her doctors tried. After receiving antibiotics for the flu, she began to improve, but less than two weeks after leaving the hospital, she was readmitted. Another colonoscopy and gastroscopy showed her ulcerative colitis had worsened. At that point, doctors started her on a JAK inhibitor—still experimental for infants—along with a biologic.
Kaitlin was terrified. Handing over her baby over to receive a drug that hadn’t been fully tested in someone so small was something she believes no parent should ever have to face.
Fortunately, the treatment worked. After exhausting multiple options, Romy finally responded to the JAK inhibitor, a medication that didn’t even exist for children a decade ago.
Today, Romy is thriving. She celebrated her first birthday surrounded by family and friends and even participated in her first Gutsy Walk, helping raise nearly $27,000 for Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. At almost 2 years old, she’s full of energy, laughter, and a spark that fills her family with hope.