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THE BACK STORY SHORT
September 4th, 2018 our 4 year old son Zimri developed petechiae on his skin and was bruising very easily. We took him straight to the pediatrician who had his labs drawn. That night we got a call from the lab at midnight, saying his platelet count was extremely low and to get him to an ER IMMEDIATELY!
He was taken to Enloe Medical Center where they air flighted him to UCDavis Children’s Hospital. There he had many blood tests and failed IVs, surgery for a bone marrow biopsy, court ordered blood transfusions of platelets and red blood cells and another surgery for a PICC line to be installed. 
Zimri was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia (a rare bone marrow failure, where the body does not make enough red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets). This lowers his oxygen, energy, ability to fight infectious diseases (bacterial, viral or fungal), and his ability to clot when injured. He starts to spontaneously bleed from the nose and gums when his platelets reach a dangerous low and his heart becomes strained when his red cells get too low.
He was put on reverse isolation precautions, and (doctors thinking this is an autoimmune condition) started on an immune suppressive drug treatment projected to take 3-6 months.
In October he was released from the hospital to live in an isolated bubble at home during this time with an extremely low immune system. He is given shots twice a week to stimulate his white cell production, trying to keep him from falling into the neutropenic levels.
He has 1-2 appointments every week at UCDavis where the doctors give him blood transfusions of platelets and/or red blood cells to keep him alive while waiting for his body to respond to the drugs. This requires 4 hours of driving for each appointment, plus 5-10 hours for each appointment with transfusions.
WHERE WE ARE NOW
Its been over 5 months since the beginning of all this and the immune suppression treatment is not working. Nor are the holistic dietary changes that we have implemented. Zimri has been referred to UCSF in San Francisco for an unrelated bone marrow donor transplant. They have begun the worldwide search for a donor.
We are told we have about 2 months from now (until about April/May 2019) to get our affairs in order to move down to San Francisco as a family. We will be living between the Children’s Hospital and a communal house nearby the hospital.
Zimri will undergo chemotherapy in prep for a transplant and then receive transplant. If all goes well, he is expected to be in the hospital for 6-8 weeks strait and then move from there to the communal house by the hospital with the rest of our family for another month or two. If the frequency of his appointments get far enough apart for us to move back home, we will be able to drive back and forth for appointments in San Francisco indefinitely.
If things do not go smoothly with transplant and healing, it could potentially be 6 months to a year or two living in San Francisco.
WHERE WE NEED HELP GOING FORWARD
Along with the many physical, emotional and logistical challenges this has brought to our family, it has also brought on a huge financial burden through the upcoming months away in San Francisco. We will be unable to work during this time and are trying to save enough to cover our living expenses while we are away from home for Zimri’s chemo, transplant and recovery.
If you are able to help in any way we would appreciate it so much. Anything helps! Even the smallest donation or just sharing this post via your Facebook, email or text messaging to get the word out there.
As GoFundMe takes a percentage, some would rather donate directly into our PayPal account using this link:
or email us for more information or mailing address for those we know personally.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for your loving kindness and support. Words can’t express what going through this has been like for us and how priceless your encouragement and love have been.
Agape,
The Peabody Family
THE BACK STORY SHORT
September 4th, 2018 our 4 year old son Zimri developed petechiae on his skin and was bruising very easily. We took him straight to the pediatrician who had his labs drawn. That night we got a call from the lab at midnight, saying his platelet count was extremely low and to get him to an ER IMMEDIATELY!
He was taken to Enloe Medical Center where they air flighted him to UCDavis Children’s Hospital. There he had many blood tests and failed IVs, surgery for a bone marrow biopsy, court ordered blood transfusions of platelets and red blood cells and another surgery for a PICC line to be installed. Zimri was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia (a rare bone marrow failure, where the body does not make enough red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets). This lowers his oxygen, energy, ability to fight infectious diseases (bacterial, viral or fungal), and his ability to clot when injured. He starts to spontaneously bleed from the nose and gums when his platelets reach a dangerous low and his heart becomes strained when his red cells get too low.
He was put on reverse isolation precautions, and (doctors thinking this is an autoimmune condition) started on an immune suppressive drug treatment projected to take 3-6 months.
In October he was released from the hospital to live in an isolated bubble at home during this time with an extremely low immune system. He is given shots twice a week to stimulate his white cell production, trying to keep him from falling into the neutropenic levels.
He has 1-2 appointments every week at UCDavis where the doctors give him blood transfusions of platelets and/or red blood cells to keep him alive while waiting for his body to respond to the drugs. This requires 4 hours of driving for each appointment, plus 5-10 hours for each appointment with transfusions.
WHERE WE ARE NOW
Its been over 5 months since the beginning of all this and the immune suppression treatment is not working. Nor are the holistic dietary changes that we have implemented. Zimri has been referred to UCSF in San Francisco for an unrelated bone marrow donor transplant. They have begun the worldwide search for a donor.
We are told we have about 2 months from now (until about April/May 2019) to get our affairs in order to move down to San Francisco as a family. We will be living between the Children’s Hospital and a communal house nearby the hospital.
Zimri will undergo chemotherapy in prep for a transplant and then receive transplant. If all goes well, he is expected to be in the hospital for 6-8 weeks strait and then move from there to the communal house by the hospital with the rest of our family for another month or two. If the frequency of his appointments get far enough apart for us to move back home, we will be able to drive back and forth for appointments in San Francisco indefinitely.
If things do not go smoothly with transplant and healing, it could potentially be 6 months to a year or two living in San Francisco.
WHERE WE NEED HELP GOING FORWARD
Along with the many physical, emotional and logistical challenges this has brought to our family, it has also brought on a huge financial burden through the upcoming months away in San Francisco. We will be unable to work during this time and are trying to save enough to cover our living expenses while we are away from home for Zimri’s chemo, transplant and recovery.
If you are able to help in any way we would appreciate it so much. Anything helps! Even the smallest donation or just sharing this post via your Facebook, email or text messaging to get the word out there.
As GoFundMe takes a percentage, some would rather donate directly into our PayPal account using this link:
or email us for more information or mailing address for those we know personally.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for your loving kindness and support. Words can’t express what going through this has been like for us and how priceless your encouragement and love have been.
Agape,
The Peabody Family