In July 2022, Liam was diagnosed with ITP after his 15 month checkup. He was bruising without a fall/injury, and after the NP looked further, had tiny red dots on his skin called petechiae. He was sent to Children's for lab work immediately after the appt. His NP called within an hour after his lab work, saying he needed to go to the ER as his platelets were at 22,000. A typical platelet level is 150,000-400,000. They were sent to the ER that night & he was diagnosed with ITP. The doctors expected his platelet count to return to normal over time, but Justin & Adrienne insisted on more testing as they spent multiple times in the ER over the next few months and something still seemed off.

In December 2022, Liam was diagnosed with Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome. The chance of having WAS is 1 in 1 million. It's an extremely rare and life threatening condition, and it was determined that he needed a bone marrow transplant soon. His transplant was scheduled for Feb 2023, but unfortunately Liam came down with covid and strep which postponed his transplant.

In April, Liam had all of his pre BMT tests, had a central line put in, and started chemo at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. 3 days before Liam was admitted, Justin's car broke down & was unable to be fixed. They have been sharing one vehicle for the time being, but will be looking for a 2nd vehicle soon as it's needed for medical appts.

Liam had his BMT on May 9 and is doing pretty well with everything. He is now transitioning off of some meds and starting to look into home care for when he is released. They are still waiting on his engraftment study & seeing if his body can handle NG feeds instead of full TPN. Once released, Liam will have Dr appts 3 times a week for awhile as well as transfusions when needed, with it eventually moving to weekly then monthly appts. He will not have a full immune system for the next year, so his family will still be quarantined during this time. He will be monitored by many doctors for years after transplant.

Many friends and family have asked how they can help the Bessler family. They would love all the prayers for their little boy to recover fully from the bone marrow transplant. If you feel inclined to help financially, we have set up this GoFundMe to help with medical bills and needs related to Liam's transplant throughout this time. If you would like to send something directly to them, please reach out to Don or Jean Cline (his grandparents) for the Bessler's address or Venmo.