Support Metztli's Fight Against Aplastic Anemia

Here is the long awaited update on finding a bone marrow transplant match for our boy. I want to start this by saying I am completely taken back by the amount of love and support we have gotten not only from our friends and family, but from complete strangers. so many of you have inquired about getting tested to see if you could be a match for Metztli. As of right now there is no way to get specifically tested for our boy, but I do encourage you if it is on your heart, and mind to join bethematch.com and get registered to be a donor.

none of us (Metztli’s immediate family) are 100% matches, but he does have a match from the donor list !! we have a lot of pre-screening to do to make sure there are no underlying issues/conditions and to ensure he is healthy enough for transplant before the donor will be notified. once the donor is notified (God willing that they are still in s position in life to agree to do the donation) there is a lot of screening that they will need to go through aswell as genetic testing to ensure they do not have the same mutations as Metztli, or any underlying issues on their end. we are projecting about 3 months of screening between Metztli and his donor before we will actually be able to go in for the transplant.

once all the screening is done and we go in for transplant he will be hospitalized for 6-8 weeks, and then upon discharge we will spend an additional 2-3 months in Ann Arbor. during this time in Ann Arbor we will be remaining very isolated as the biggest risk of transplant is infection. Metztli will be weak, and have little to no immune system during this time. we ask that our families be understanding, we know everyone wants to be there for him but ultimately it is in his best interest that we keep contact to a minimum. we will continue to watch Metztli very closely for approximately 2 years after transplant, this will be to ensure his chemo does not affect his growth and development, and to watch for graft vs host disease(one of the major risks with transplant). in those first couple of years he will also be on many medications, and will be spending time gaining back his strength. he will be sensitive to sun and will always have to take his skin care very seriously to avoid skin cancer. After those first couple of years he will continue to be monitored throughout his youth, and well into adulthood for any cancer, or chance of Aplastic Anemia coming back.

unfortunately transplant is not a 100% guaranteed cure and does come with risks of its own, but we have a good God who I know will continue to watch over Metztli. After the next couple of years of medication/ monitoring and his successful bone marrow transplant his quality of life will hopefully be close to normal. after a couple of years he will be able to run, play sports, socialize at events/in big groups without worrying about a mask or infection. he will always need to be careful using any substances such as alcohol/ smoking ( we actually like the idea of this rule!! ) ultimately his transplant will give him back his childhood. it is unfortunate that it must be put on pause to begin with, but we are trying to keep positive thoughts, and we are beyond grateful that he has a match out there somewhere. that gives us hope. in the mean time he will continue having transfusions to keep his levels safe. and we will begin more consultations with our transplant team at U of M.

we ask that you continue to pray for Metztli, and our family. we have a long journey ahead, but we know that with faith in God Metzt will persevere

we will continue to fundraise to ensure we are able to keep our home in kalamazoo while we are living in Ann Arbor for Metztli’s Transplant for 4 months. our family is extremely grateful for the impact our community has had during these hard times.