Healing Close to Home

My son Jehoram loves second grade, asking questions and exploring outdoors. He was born with sickle cell disease. When he was very young, we hardly left home except to drive two hours roundtrip to Children’s National for care, including blood transfusions. Anemia made Jehoram pale and weak, and he didn’t grow well. It was hard on us all.

We started seeing the hospital’s bone marrow transplant team when Jehoram was 6. During those appointments I would cry so hard I couldn’t understand what the doctor said, but I felt stronger each time we left. Jehoram missed a lot of kindergarten because we live so far away.

His twin sister, Jecholiah, turned out to be the only bone marrow donor match in our family. I was happy for it, but then I cried double. She understood that her brother needed her help to survive. The bone marrow transplant process took many months of intense treatment.

Afterwards, Jehoram grew and gained weight. Follow-up care at Children’s National Fredericksburg makes a world of difference. Jehoram doesn’t have to miss much school or spend so much time in the car. Children’s National lifted a burden for our family in so many ways. Jehoram is now a super happy, healthy kid.