O'FALLON, Ill. — When Mackenzie Broyles pulls a box of Nutricia Neocate Splash from the pantry, it's one of their last with the formula she needs for her son, Cash.
She noticed she was running low and called her medical provider, but that's when she found out the national baby formula shortage was now hitting home.
"They said 'we don’t have any for you, we’re out.' Everything in our whole world just went upside down," Broyles said.
Like many parents, she turned to social media to see if anyone in her network had extra formula, finding a lot of willing kindness but no solutions.
"We had I don't know how many moms offer us breast milk. I don't think they realize that Cash was 11 when they offered that up," she said with a laugh.
Unlike many of the infants affected by the formula, Cash Broyles is expected to need the medical formula for years.
Cash is living with eosinophilia, a condition that causes the disease-fighting white blood cells in his body to treat nearly all foods as a parasite or bacteria. The foods his body only tolerates are rice, potatoes, apples, and Nutricia Neocate Splash.
And he's not alone.
Broyles said her medical supplier told her that they have about 2,000 customers in the St. Louis region in the same situation as her.
Neocate's makers have an update on their website telling customers "The Abbott formula recall in February led to a huge surge in demand for alternative amino acid-based formula, including our Neocate products."
"It is so difficult and so scary," Ellyn Kodroff, President of CURED, said.
A foundation that's donated $6 million for research on eosinophilic conditions, but now they're also trying to connect families with the formula they need.
"We knew right away that there was going to be some kind of trouble," she said. "I don't think we ever imagined that it was going to come to this."
When Broyles looks online for help, she said she finds more concerns. Prices are up so high that a 1-week supply is now going for $567. And some people are posting product photos showing an old logo, leading her to believe they might be selling expired formula.
Broyles said she's urging people in her network to contact Congress in hopes of passing the Medical Nutrition Equity Act, which would require health insurance companies to cover the medical formulas.
While the Broyles search for a solution, they turn to their faith, feeding their souls, and hoping for a miracle.
"We are looking to God, and we are trusting that God will provide for him right now because nobody else seems to know what to do," she said.