Adrian's Bone Marrow Transplant

It has been a long, painful journey thus far for Adrian — his entire life to be exact. Adrian was born with Sickle Cell Disease; a blood disease that causes red blood cells to become misshapen, breakdown, and die early, preventing oxygen from flowing properly to his vital organs. Sickle Cell Crisis’ often cause occlusions in the veins, resulting in pain, and swelling where the obstruction occurs, and keeps the blood cells from flowing properly. Untreated, this disease could be life threatening (and already has been for many). Many Sickle Cell episodes, and nearly 300 hospital visits later, we are finally preparing to try his Bone Marrow Transplant once more. We attempted two years ago, but in the process, Adrian had an especially bad Sickle Cell crisis that severely affected his lungs. Two years later; we are closer than we’ve ever been. We were fortunate enough to find that his 9 year old sister is fully compatible with him, and she has agreed to be his donor. They are both very hopeful for the outcome of this process. However, although this means a chance at a bright future for Adrian with a full life expectancy, free of pain, and excessive hospital visits; the journey there won’t be easy for him, his sister and everyone closest to him. Adrian is currently undergoing chemotherapy as the first step in preparation to receive the new bone marrow. Chemo has already been really hard on him, and it requires someone being by his side at every moment. After receiving the bone marrow, Adrian will have to stay confined to his hospital room for up to 6 weeks with no contact from outside with anyone other than hospital staff and his guardians, meaning his siblings won’t even be able to visit him. Full recovery can take up to 18 months. During this time, I will need to take time off of work to be by his side, and this is going to cause a large financial strain in our household. I humbly ask for your help. Anything helps. For those who cannot help us financially; we just ask that you share Adrian’s story with others.