Our son William “Will” was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia in June 2008. Aplastic Anemia is a rare blood disorder in which the bone marrow has stopped producing enough blood. In Will’s case, his bone marrow was only producing 5% of the blood his body needed, so he immediately began receiving blood transfusions. To date, he has received 133 units of blood products while undergoing treatment to stimulate his bone marrow. Although Will’s condition is not a cancer, his treatments are similar to patients with leukemia and other types of cancer. In June 2009, Will received a bone marrow transplant in the Denver Children’s Hospital. He underwent 10 days of intense chemotherapy and 3 days of immunosuppression drugs, both of which caused severe, life-threatening reactions. Following his bone marrow transplant, he experienced 4 severe complications, so he remained in isolation for nearly 6 months. Throughout the bone marrow transplant process, we relied on many prayer warriors, friends and family members, and we were also introduced to another “warrior,” Mikaylah. I serve in the US Air Force with JD Morgan, a member of Missing Stateside, and he told Mikaylah and her parents about Will. They invited my daughter, Sarah and me to come to Belen NM to meet Mikaylah. We witnessed first-hand her unselfish dedication to kids with life-threatening illnesses and she gave us a very generous gift for Will. She and her family have continued to encourage Will as he continues to recover. He is anxious to someday meet her. -Chuck Crisler
These are the children we have impacted:
William Crisler
Our son William “Will” was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia in June 2008. Aplastic Anemia is a rare blood disorder in which the bone marrow has stopped producing enough blood. In Will’s case, his bone marrow was only producing 5% of the blood his body needed, so he immediately began receiving blood transfusions. To date, he has received 133 units of blood products while undergoing treatment to stimulate his bone marrow. Although Will’s condition is not a cancer, his treatments are similar to patients with leukemia and other types of cancer. In June 2009, Will received a bone marrow transplant in the Denver Children’s Hospital. He underwent 10 days of intense chemotherapy and 3 days of immunosuppression drugs, both of which caused severe, life-threatening reactions. Following his bone marrow transplant, he experienced 4 severe complications, so he remained in isolation for nearly 6 months. Throughout the bone marrow transplant process, we relied on many prayer warriors, friends and family members, and we were also introduced to another “warrior,” Mikaylah. I serve in the US Air Force with JD Morgan, a member of Missing Stateside, and he told Mikaylah and her parents about Will. They invited my daughter, Sarah and me to come to Belen NM to meet Mikaylah. We witnessed first-hand her unselfish dedication to kids with life-threatening illnesses and she gave us a very generous gift for Will. She and her family have continued to encourage Will as he continues to recover. He is anxious to someday meet her. -Chuck Crisler