To all the friends and family of Rachel and Ethan DeJongh, My name is Arianna, and Rachel and I first met at soccer camp when we were around 10 years old. Over the past 2 decades, we've lived a lot of life together, and even delivered our babies just 1 week apart from one another! As many of you know, it wasn't even a week after Emery's birth that Rachel and Ethan received a call no parent wants to receive. They were informed that baby Emery's blood tests from the hospital indicated he has a rare disorder called Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID). Essentially, Emery was born without a functional immune system, meaning anything that attacks his immune system could be life-threatening. The doctors informed Rachel and Ethan that although this disorder is rare, thankfully there is treatment available, and they quickly packed their bags to head to UCSF's Children's Hospital shortly after Emery celebrated his 1-week-old birth anniversary. I'm sure you can imagine the all-encompassing rollercoaster the family has been on ever since. The first month+ was spent in the hospital to ensure Emery's safety in a sterile environment while awaiting test results to confirm their treatment options, and since then, they've been faced with many decisions around his medical care. Instead of being able to focus purely on bonding and settling into the new routines of parenthood, Rachel and Ethan have been faced with making incredibly challenging decisions throughout Emery's early infancy. As I've been settling into life with my baby (who is 1 week younger than Emery), my heart has weighed heavily for the burdens they've had to assume. It's hard to know that such a sweet season is also marred by such heaviness. They have shown such incredible strength and steadfastness in their love for each other, Emery, and God as they've navigated everything. It's truly a testament to their faith and characters that they are leaning into these hardships with such grace and presence. Emery is set to receive chemotherapy to prepare his body so he won't reject his bone marrow transplant, which will help kickstart his body into making T-cells so he can then have a functioning immune system. Rachel will be his bone marrow donor after the chemotherapy treatment. They will remain in UCSF's family housing until then while navigating weekly medical appointments, and after Emery's transplant, they will need to remain at the hospital for another 6 months. The road is long, and so far the family is expecting to be off work and full-time in San Francisco until at least March 2024. The costs of this journey are yet to be known, but I imagine they could mount up quickly. I and others have encouraged them to allow a LFEBridge to be established before expenses become a major stressor, in the hopes that the love and support that will come to them through this platform will not only stave off financial anxiety, but will also bolster them in the assurance that they have a whole village around them that loves them and will support them in tangible ways. We trust in God's provision, love, and grace throughout this entire process, and my hope is that we will all continue to surround Emery, Rachel, Ethan, and their families with prayer. We have faith that Emery's strength and healing comes from the God of love, and know that "Emery Strong" is a proclamation of that faith. A note in closing: I am setting the fundraising goal at $20,000 and can foresee that we might opt to increase the amount as we gain a better sense of the costs of treatment and loss of income. My hope is that we surpass the 20k goal, and I will send updates from the family as his treatment progresses.
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