Little Rifle's Life-Saving Transplant Journey

My name is Sanci Harshman, proud mom of two little boys, Rifle (22m) and Fletcher (4), and married to their devoted dad, Spencer Harshman.

What it means to be the hero of your own story--It's calling forward that strongest part of yourself. And knowing there are times that life gives us no choice, and we must rise to the challenge.

Rifle Jeffrey is a 22-month-old little boy who lives life to the fullest. Pushes limits. Loves his big brother and his fur siblings with his whole heart. Dirt, puddles, and being outdoors are what he enjoys most.

Rifle was born 5 weeks early and spent a couple of weeks at Children's MSP NICU working through a few different issues. He has since been followed by Children's hematology team to keep an "eye on things." Unfortunately, over time it seemed as though his bone marrow might not be functioning as it should be, just the same as mine. Fast forward to January 2025, I completed my 100-day post-transplant visit. Blessed to have made it this far and to be doing fairly well recovering... A few days later, Rifle had his bone marrow biopsy, followed up with his hematologist, and we had a consult with the UMN pediatric transplant team. Assuming it was to "get plugged in" just as I had done when I was a child. To our surprise, the BMT doctor said, "I have looked and looked, and I can't find any reason to not take him to transplant." My heart was crushed. How is it possible that our baby was facing a bone marrow transplant before age 2 and less than 6 months after I just completed mine? My feelings and memories of my transplant are still very raw and so recent... hard to process my baby going through what I did

Trying to gather my thoughts and formulate questions... I asked to pause as I needed to get a second opinion. The doctor supported us in taking time to do that.

Over the next couple of weeks, we met with one of the "world's best pediatric BMT" doctors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She reviewed his records and bone marrow slides. I also spoke to a third doctor in Texas... they both said the same thing, with the genetic changes seen on his bone marrow, transplant is recommended. "Watching and waiting" is not recommended in pediatric patients. It is risky, as pediatric cancers are usually aggressive. They recommended fixing his bone marrow before it could change into something worse, such as a cancer. Transplant would be his chance to be cured, just as it was for me.

Decision was made, Rifle is going to bone marrow transplant. Thankfully, he has two fully matched unrelated donors (primary and backup).... He is having surgery tomorrow, 2/17, to place his central line and feeding tube. We will be doing pre-transplant work up at the end of this week and next. Then he will be admitted to Masonic Children's in Minneapolis on 3/12 for 10 days of chemo, and transplant is planned for 3/25...two days short of 6 months from my transplant

Rifle and I will be in the hospital for 6-8 weeks, and then the two of us will be living in an apartment near the hospital for the next 3 months. Spencer is going to try to work as much as possible to help make ends meet... as we certainly have not had time to financially recover from my transplant. He and Fletch will hold down the fort at home and come visit us when able.

Please send us all the good vibes, we need them.

Transplant is expensive, especially 2 transplants within 6 months. If you are able to help us via GoFundMe or Venmo (Sanci-Harshman), we would be so thankful. These funds will help us make ends meet, pay for things that insurance doesn't cover like oral meds, hospital meals, a second home and travel expenses. And no worries, if you can't donate, please share our story on Facebook.

We know we are going to have some very tough days ahead. Unfortunately, we are calling on all of "our people" once again, our amazing village of people that carried us through my transplant. This time, for Rifle Jeffrey.

I am grateful that I will be there to hold my baby boy, each and every day as we face this next challenge. We will come out of this together, stronger then where we started.

Courage comes in all sizes. Rifle is tough, Rifle is resilient and Rifle is READY 2 WIN!

#Riflesready2win #Wegotthis #BMTwarrior