Ethan's Story

He delivered us… and he will deliver us.  On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.  You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.  2 Corinthians 1:10-11

Over the last few weeks, we’ve noticed a few things that have caused us to be concerned for Ethan.  There have been bloody noses, bruises that wouldn’t heal and low-grade fevers.  Tuesday, Sara took Ethan to see our pediatrician who did some blood work.  The results showed a low white blood cell count and a dangerously low platelet count.  Ethan was sent immediately to Children’s Hospital for more testing and to be seen by a hematologist/oncologist.  Further testing confirmed Ethan’s low counts and led doctors to suspect Leukemia.  The only way to be certain however, was to perform a bone marrow biopsy. 

To our surprise, the biopsy (performed Wednesday morning) ruled out Leukemia and instead showed Aplastic Anemia.  Aplastic Anemia is a condition in which the bone marrow does not produce healthy cells.  The result is blood that will not clot and an immune system that will not fight off bacteria.  (Interestingly, the cause of the condition is unknown and is not thought to be connected in any way to prematurity).  Although Sara and I were relieved to hear that there is no cancer, we were very concerned to learn that Aplastic Anemia is also considered a life-threatening illness and can be as or even more dangerous than certain types of Leukemia. 

Wednesday evening we spoke with our hematologist/oncologist about initial ‘next steps.’  Without question, the best treatment for Ethan is a bone-marrow transplant from a matching donor.  The best candidate for a match is his sister, Addison.  There’s a 25% chance that she’s a perfect match.  Addison’s blood was tested this afternoon (Thursday) and results are expected to be back early next week.  If she is a match, we will immediately begin pursuing a bone marrow transplant.  If not, the next step would probably be to start Ethan on Immune Suppressant Therapy.  The other possibility if Addison is not a match is to pursue the donor registry.  But at this point, we know little about treatment plan; especially the Suppressant Therapy and the Donor Registry.

And so for now, we ask that you would pray with us that Addison would be a candidate for the bone marrow transplant.  This would seem to put Ethan well on his way to treatment and possibly to a full recovery.  Please also pray that, in the meantime, Ethan would be free of any infection.  His immune system is very weak and he is very vulnerable to illness.  Above all, please pray that God’s will be done and that His name be glorified.  We ask this with great confidence because we have learned first-hand that He is faithful and good and merciful and kind.  He has been faithful.  He will be faithful once again.

Jared and Sara