State College High student soaring after treatment for Crohn’s disease
From Geisinger media
Santino DePalma, 17, of State College has his eyes on the skies. During the COVID pandemic, he began 3D printing little planes and painting them as a hobby. For his 15th birthday, his parents gave him a present that changed his life, a discovery flight.
“That got me hooked,” DePalma said. “I’ve loved flying ever since.”
Since then, DePalma has been taking flying lessons and has hopes to be a pilot after finishing his education. However, a recent illness almost grounded his plans for the future. He lost significant weight and appetite, was chronically fatigue and showed a lack of interest in the things he really enjoyed.
“I started to experience a lot of pain, I was super cold all the time, and super sluggish,” DePalma said. “I barely had enough energy to make it through the school day, I would come home and crash on the couch a lot of days.”
His mother, Natalie Hernandez, scheduled an appointment with his pediatrician, David Coggins, MD, at Geisinger HealthPlex State College and the search began for answers to his sudden health change.
“He had some weight loss and tachycardia (rapid heart rate) at rest,” said Dr. Coggins. “We ran some labs that showed iron deficiency anemia, which made me worry about poor caloric intake.”
Dr. Coggins worked with several pediatric specialists to help with a diagnosis. They started with cardiology for the rapid heartbeat, but all tests revealed no issues with his heart. During a May 2024 visit, he tested negative for celiac disease but had some low protein levels in his blood, which made Dr. Coggins and his team believe his illness could stem from a gastrointestinal issue.
“At that point he had worsening anemia and continued fatigue. We made a referral to Dr. Rick Focht, Geisinger pediatric gastroenterologist,” Dr. Coggins said.
Dr. Focht performed additional tests and, following an MRI and an endoscopy procedure, determined that DePalma had Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract. It can occur at any age but is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 35. Symptoms can include diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, fatigue and rectal bleeding.
“Santino presented with weight loss and anemia but did not have some of the more common symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea or visible blood in his stool,” Dr. Focht said. “I think that is probably why his diagnosis took a little longer than in other cases.”
There currently is no cure for Crohn’s disease and no treatment has proven to work for everyone. Most of the treatments and therapies work to reduce the symptoms and inflammation, either through anti-inflammatory medicines, immune system suppressors or biologics.
Biologic medications are administered either by infusion or injection. They work by specifically targeting and blocking proteins or pathways involved in the body’s inflammatory response.
“Since biologics have been approved to treat inflammatory bowel disease, they have been an absolute game changer especially for those patients with moderate to severe disease,” Dr. Focht said. “These therapies have the ability to modify disease outcomes in a way previous therapies were often unable to accomplish.”
DePalma had a positive response to the injection form of the medication almost immediately.
“There could have been some psychological effects to it, but I felt relief almost immediately, basically right after the loading dose,” he said. “I experienced almost no stomach pain anymore, at least significantly less than I did without the medication.”
Following ongoing treatment with medication, DePalma has gotten his life back. He is once again participating in the State College High School Choir, enjoying working on his car, remote control off-roading with friends -- and is back to the skies in his journey to be a pilot.
“He is back to living his best life,” Hernandez said. “What was amazing was he said, ‘I thought everyone’s stomach felt that way.’ He had no idea he was dealing with a chronic illness.”
Now with just weeks until he completes his third year of high school, the future is indeed bright for DePalma. He is enjoying his good health, mountain biking whenever he can and flying on the weekends. After completing his education, he hopes to be a bush pilot for the U.S. forestry service and to someday own his own plane.
“I feel amazing, a lot of things have changed, and I feel like I can do so much more,” he said. “I can make it through a whole day without taking a nap. I don’t feel super cold all the time, and I just overall feel great.”
“That got me hooked,” DePalma said. “I’ve loved flying ever since.”
Since then, DePalma has been taking flying lessons and has hopes to be a pilot after finishing his education. However, a recent illness almost grounded his plans for the future. He lost significant weight and appetite, was chronically fatigue and showed a lack of interest in the things he really enjoyed.
“I started to experience a lot of pain, I was super cold all the time, and super sluggish,” DePalma said. “I barely had enough energy to make it through the school day, I would come home and crash on the couch a lot of days.”
His mother, Natalie Hernandez, scheduled an appointment with his pediatrician, David Coggins, MD, at Geisinger HealthPlex State College and the search began for answers to his sudden health change.
“He had some weight loss and tachycardia (rapid heart rate) at rest,” said Dr. Coggins. “We ran some labs that showed iron deficiency anemia, which made me worry about poor caloric intake.”
Dr. Coggins worked with several pediatric specialists to help with a diagnosis. They started with cardiology for the rapid heartbeat, but all tests revealed no issues with his heart. During a May 2024 visit, he tested negative for celiac disease but had some low protein levels in his blood, which made Dr. Coggins and his team believe his illness could stem from a gastrointestinal issue.
“At that point he had worsening anemia and continued fatigue. We made a referral to Dr. Rick Focht, Geisinger pediatric gastroenterologist,” Dr. Coggins said.
Dr. Focht performed additional tests and, following an MRI and an endoscopy procedure, determined that DePalma had Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract. It can occur at any age but is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 35. Symptoms can include diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, fatigue and rectal bleeding.
“Santino presented with weight loss and anemia but did not have some of the more common symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea or visible blood in his stool,” Dr. Focht said. “I think that is probably why his diagnosis took a little longer than in other cases.”
There currently is no cure for Crohn’s disease and no treatment has proven to work for everyone. Most of the treatments and therapies work to reduce the symptoms and inflammation, either through anti-inflammatory medicines, immune system suppressors or biologics.
Biologic medications are administered either by infusion or injection. They work by specifically targeting and blocking proteins or pathways involved in the body’s inflammatory response.
“Since biologics have been approved to treat inflammatory bowel disease, they have been an absolute game changer especially for those patients with moderate to severe disease,” Dr. Focht said. “These therapies have the ability to modify disease outcomes in a way previous therapies were often unable to accomplish.”
DePalma had a positive response to the injection form of the medication almost immediately.
“There could have been some psychological effects to it, but I felt relief almost immediately, basically right after the loading dose,” he said. “I experienced almost no stomach pain anymore, at least significantly less than I did without the medication.”
Following ongoing treatment with medication, DePalma has gotten his life back. He is once again participating in the State College High School Choir, enjoying working on his car, remote control off-roading with friends -- and is back to the skies in his journey to be a pilot.
“He is back to living his best life,” Hernandez said. “What was amazing was he said, ‘I thought everyone’s stomach felt that way.’ He had no idea he was dealing with a chronic illness.”
Now with just weeks until he completes his third year of high school, the future is indeed bright for DePalma. He is enjoying his good health, mountain biking whenever he can and flying on the weekends. After completing his education, he hopes to be a bush pilot for the U.S. forestry service and to someday own his own plane.
“I feel amazing, a lot of things have changed, and I feel like I can do so much more,” he said. “I can make it through a whole day without taking a nap. I don’t feel super cold all the time, and I just overall feel great.”
Content from General Links with modal content