Tanner
CAN
survive IPEX.
Tanner
Joseph Matney, born November 27, 2008 to
mother Kim Green Matney and father
Richard Matney of Mt. Airy, MD. Both
parents are native to the area. Kim grew
up in Damascus, MD and attended Damascus
High School and Rick was raised in
Ashton, MD and attended Sherwood High
School.
Tanner was
born with IPEX, a deadly autoimmune
disease. Autoimmune disorders occur when
the immune system malfunctions and
attacks the body's own tissues and
organs. He’s been on steroids and other
medicines since birth which only mask
the symptoms temporarily until he’s
healthy enough to withstand chemo
treatments and a bone marrow transplant.
In
preparation for the bone marrow
transplant, he has been taken off all
medication which will consequently
result in the IPEX disease to rear its
ugly head and invade Tanner’s little
body once again, causing all his earlier
symptoms to resurface - severe rash,
weight loss, hair loss and loss of
muscle tone. Tanner will become very
frail and extremely susceptible to all
germs and infections.
Once he’s
had the transplant he must undergo more
chemo to guarantee that all IPEX has
been eliminated once and for all. If all
this goes well, and with God’s help,
Tanner’s body won’t reject the new bone
marrow and he will begin to thrive.
There is a two year window that doctors
say he needs to make.
IPEX
disease is so rare that unless your
doctor works at one of our country’s
leading research hospitals such as:
Johns Hopkins, NIH, St. Jude’s, or The
Mayo Clinic, the disease could be
misdiagnosed. Tanner is the 50th
“recorded” case of IPEX in the world.
This disease only attacks male babies
and left untreated they don’t live to
see their first birthday.
Needless to
say the family has been hit with extreme
medical bills. We’ve teamed up with the
Patty Pollatos Fund in order to raise
money for the Matney family. If you
would like to make a donation, please
make checks payable to:
PPF,
Inc.
c/o Darcey Matney
24612 Showbarn Circle
Damascus, MD 20872
PPF, Inc. include Tanner Matney in the
memo portion of the check and mail to:
For
information regarding Tanner’s progress
please visit
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tannermatney
Thank You In Advance.
