*****WWW.Cotafortonyb.com*****This is how it all started for our youngest son named Anthony Rocco Bierwirth, or Tony, May of 2006, when he was about 7 months old, he got a high fever. After ten days of visits to the pediatrician he was referred to oncology because of his low cell counts, an enlarged liver, and enlarged spleen.On his fourth day of in-patient care, he was diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH, for short. On the fifth day he had an incident in surgery (getting a broviac) and wound up in PICU for a week, unconscious. Three weeks later I was fully engulfed in steroids, cyclosporin, and VP-16. His counts eventually normalized and he was relieved from treament a few months ago. He beat HLH!!!Or so we thought!! In the month of August 2007, he got another bad fever and this time we were at the oncologist within 3 days of the fever's onset. He has restarted his treatment protocol, chemo and steriods, and so far he felt pretty good. He had just turned 2 years old on September 17th :) We want him to live a long and healthy life. His only hope for a second chance of life was a bone marrow transplant and unfortunately none of us were a close enough match so he needed everyone's help. Fortunely, in November 2007 we had recieved life changing news. Our son had a perfect unrelated donor MATCH!!! So November 28th we were admitted to UCSF bone marrow unit for a transplant. It took three hard and intense weeks with rounds of chemo. They needed to kill of the bad marrow and then tansplant him with the good marrow. It took one week to see if his body would take to the new marrow. We were in luck and since then our sons health has continued to improve. He is now a vibrant young little boy that enjoys him life to the fullest. If it hadn't been for the National Morrow Association our son would not be here with his family. Please donate it is so simple and rewarding knowing that you helped save a life like my sons.******WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SAVEANTHONY******** or go to *********WWW.Cotafortonyb.com************You can go to the National Marrow website and request a cheek swab mailer or you can go to your local blood bank to donate. When you go in to get your cheek swabbed or make a donation so others can, my Registry name is: "Anthony Bierwirth" You'll be helping to save a lot of lives!!You're all in our prayers.
HLH Information from the CDC
National Marrow Donor Program
BloodSource
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