John John Journey Fundraiser

Prior to June 23 2012, John John was a healthy 14 year old, 6ft tall boy that always had a smile on his face. He is an excellent student in school and is well liked by his peers and teachers. Johnathan is like any other kid and enjoys playing games, listening to music, and getting on Facebook to communicate with those near and far. He also loves to play basketball and was recruited by his gym teacher to play for the school team. On June 27, 2012, out of the blue, John John was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia...a rare disease of the bone marrow. It's so rare that only about 3 out of every 1 million people in the United States get aplastic anemia each year. The bone marrow stops making enough red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets for the body. Any blood cells the marrow does make are normal, but there are not enough of them. Aplastic anemia can be moderate, severe or very severe. People with severe or very severe aplastic anemia are at risk for life-threatening infections or bleeding. Thankfully John John's older brother was a match and on August 1st, 2012, he had a bone marrow transplant! He stayed in the hospital under the doctors observation and has since been released with many restrictions. We are hoping to raise funds to help his mom who is a single mother of four, recently fired from her job because she had to be at the hospital with her child.

Of recent, over the last couple of weeks,  John John's body started rejecting the bone marrow transplant he received and his counts have been steadily dropping. As a result, he is receiving weekly units of blood and platelets as well as an injection of neupogen daily to boost up the white blood cell count.

He has been hospitalized since March 22 with between 102-103 degree fevers as well as an infection in the back of his throat. This due to the low numbers. We hope for him to not have a fever for at least 24hrs before he can go home tomorrow.

He has had a second transplant on April 30th, 2013. They had to approach it very aggressively this second time around by adding radiation therapy on top on the chemo in order to prepare his body for transplant this time.

We are at the point where his meds have to keep getting adjusted in order for his body to accept the transplant properly.

The insurance is not covering alot of his medical expenses especially with this being his 2nd transplant therefore a fundraiser has been setup to help with the costs.

I have setup a Facebook Page aptly titled "John Johns Journey" where you can follow along with his journey from week to week.

John Johns Journey

I have also started a John Johns Journey Group on Facebook as well...

John Johns Journey Facebook Group Page

Thank you all in advance for your support