Liam is the nicest, warmest and funniest eight-year-old boy you can meet. He never hesitates to give you a hug and is sure to put a smile on your face. He is fascinated by dinosaurs and is an awesome math wiz. Liam also has Fanconi anemia.
Fanconi anemia is a DNA repair disease that causes bone marrow insufficiency and poses a very high risk for certain cancers at a young age. We all have an FA pathway with a set of genes that are involved in repairing our DNA when it's damaged, but in a person with Fanconi anemia this pathway does not work as well, so they are more susceptible to disease.
We visited the hospital in September of last year for an annual bone marrow biopsy and found that Liam’s Hemoglobin was only 4.7. You usually transfuse at 7. He was admitted immediately and had to receive 3 transfusions to ensure that his level was stable enough to return home.
This was the indicator that Liam is in bone marrow failure and a bone marrow transplant will be required as soon as possible to prevent transfusion dependence.
Since FA is so rare, there are only a handful of centers in the country that specialize in bone marrow transplant protocols. All of this happened very suddenly so we were unable to visit any of the centres or find a donor for Liam. We settled on M Health Fairview in Minneapolis, MN. We had to move in a shirt amount of time to ensure Liam is provided with the upmost care for his FA.
During this incredibly stressful time, only one of us id able to work while the other takes care of Liam. We are asking for assistance to cover the bills that will continue during transplant. One of stays home with Devin and works, but the only one income will scarcely support the household.
These are extremely stressful times and we appreciate your assistance. With your help, we have an opportunity to focus on Liam's health and help him overcome this hurdle.
