Support Xzavien's Fight Against Aplastic Anemia

My fiancé is a 22 year old named Xzavien and he is as unique and amazing as his name. We are high school sweet hearts, he was a varsity baseball player and the class president and more recently he became an electrician apprentice. We got engaged on February 3, 2024 and not even a month later our worlds came to an unimaginable halt.

During a family trip in Puerto Rico, Xzavien had developed a large, dark purple bruise on the back of his left knee. I was concerned but he assured me he must have bumped into something. Just a few days after arriving home, blisters full of blood began appearing on the inside of his cheeks and lips and red spots popped up all over his shins. He sent photos to his doctor who advised him to go to the emergency room.

After some blood work the ER doctor came to tell us that Xzavien presented with something he had never seen and that was zero platelets (platelets are a type of blood cell that form clots to stop bleeding). We later found out that a normal amount would have been about 200,000!

Only a couple days into his hospital stay, a nightmare unfolded before my eyes. It was late and Xzavien was sleeping while I watched TV. He woke up and told me he felt nauseous so we called in his nurse and after a few more minutes Xzavien told me “Michelle I’m going to go out.” My heart immediately dropped and fear came over me as I began to see his eyes slowly roll back into his head and his body become limp. I shook him and cried in disbelief of what was happening. He made loud groaning sounds as I pounded on his chest trying anything for him to return to normal. That night, Xzavien experienced similar phases of unconsciousness 3 other times along with vomiting and having a 104 degree fever. He was transferred to the intensive care unit and was placed on life support the very next day.

Xzavien was intubated for a week and then transferred to another unit for 3 more weeks. He came home for a short period before starting to make trips to specialists in another hospital system 3 hours away. After more than a month, 2 bone marrow biopsies, multiple injections of hormones to stimulate his bone marrow with no improvement in his blood cell counts, Xzavien was diagnosed with aplastic anemia.

Aplastic anemia is a very rare blood condition where your bone marrow does not produce sufficient amounts of blood cells needed for us to live. Our bone marrow makes red blood cells which carry oxygen throughout our body, platelets which form clots that help us stop bleeding and white blood cells which make up our immune system and help our bodies fight sickness and infections.

Xzavien has received dozens of blood transfusions to maintain his blood cells but this can only be done for short term treatment. After seeing specialists we were told he would need a bone marrow transplant. Thankfully, Xzaviens older sister Jayda was a half match, allowing her to be his donor. Xzavien first has to undergo a week of chemotherapy to eliminate his current bone marrow for his body to be able to except a new one. This is expected to start on May 5th and then he will have his transplant done on May 15th. After the transplant, Xzavien has to remain hospitalized for a month to be closely monitored as there is a chance of side effects and possibly even rejection of the transplant. This transplant facility is 3 hours from home and Xzavien and his mom (who has stopped working to become his full-time caretaker) will have to relocate within an hour from the facility for 2 months for regular check-ins and in case of emergencies.

These donations would mean the absolute world in helping us pay for his medical bills, gas for transportation, and cost for housing and food during the relocation. Absolutely any amount and even sharing of this page would be greatly appreciated and helpful in getting through all of this. Thank you so very much for taking the time to read our story and may God bless you!