Support Donovan

This is Donovan. He is almost 7 months old and was diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome at birth. WAS is a rare genetic immunodeficiency that keeps a child's immune system from functioning properly. It also makes it difficult for a child's bone marrow to produce platelets, making a child prone to bleeding. It occurs mostly in males. Donovan has been a real warrior. He has had many, many platelet transfusions. He had chemotherapy followed by a transplant before he was even 5 months old. He has since developed unwanted complications related to the transplant. He was recently readmitted with a fever, and they found a swollen lymph node that was biopsied. He was diagnosed with EBV (epstein-Barr virus) and PTLD (post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder) 

Here is his momma Ashley’s most recent post regarding Donovan. “When they did the biopsy they expected to find polymorphic cells (coming from many "starter" cells) that were high in CD20 markers (so that the drug Rituxan can target them). What we found was monomorphic (coming from one or few "starter" cells) and it was not high in CD20 markers. This means that Donovan has a more severe case of PTLD (lymphoma). Donovan had no symptoms just 2 weeks ago so this is a fast growing lymphoma.
Our doctor reached out to an expert who gave some recommendations. We are going to continue to try Rituxan. They are hopeful it will shrink with the Rituxan. If not we have two options. We can do chemo or go for a clinical trial. We aren't starting with chemo because of the toxicity and because the transplant is new. #wiskottwarrior ”

Donovan has 2 older siblings. His momma, Ashley, works as an oncology nurse. His daddy stays at home to care for him and his siblings full time. With only one income and Donovan being hospitalized frequently, and the probability of traveling for a clinical trial.. they need our help. Ashley has still been trying to work and with the COVID19 pandemic and Donovan being immunocompromised and frail we want her to be able to stay with him as much as possible. Donations will be helpful to Ashley’s family in many ways. Ashley has dedicated her career to the care of others, and it is our turn to give back to her. 

Ashley, hang in there. Your BCC family is praying for you and Donovan! 

#WISKOTTWARRIOR

This acct was created and is being managed by myself, who is a a coworker of Ashley’s at the Brown Cancer Center. I am currently solely managing this acct, and if that changes I will update that information here.