Who Am I?
My name is Julian Ferrante. At 18 months old I was diagnosed with a rare condition called CGD which stands for Chronic Granulomatous Disease. It affects the immune system, my white blood cells are not strong enough to fight off certain bacterias and infections.
I was admitted at Sick Kids Hospital on March 21, 2008 for three weeks. I went home but only for about one and half weeks. I was re-admitted on May 1 (due to having fevers) but this time I was there for two months. For the two months that I was there, I had so many tests and lots of blood work done on me I didn’t think were possible. They were trying to figure out the cause of all my fevers and still with all those tests, everthing kept coming back negative, and no source causing my fevers were found. However, they did manage to keep it under control after trying different types of antibiotics, Meropenem was the one and on July 6, 2008, I was able to go home.
Going home I’d have to have home care nurses come over to give me medication through IV everday. After a few visits from the nurses, my mommy earned a degree in nursing. My mom Gina has been doing everything she was taught and even more to make me become stronger and healther day by day. Watching my mommy everday taking good care of me has given me so much courage and strength and has made me stronger. She’s the best Mom. I Love You Sooooo much Mommy!
Being home was a nice change of scenery from the hospital and being home with my family and friends was very uplifting . I know I would only be home for a little while before having to be re-admitted again for a Bone Marrow Transplant. I made the most out of it and enjoyed everyday to the fullest with my mom, my dad Orazio, my sister Alyssa and my brother Adrian. My sister Alyssa was the one who would be giving me her Bone Marrow as we were a perfect match.
On August 24, 2008, (my birthday), I had a small celebration with my family, but it had to be cut short as I was to be re-admitted at Sick Kids Hospital to be prepared for the Bone Marrow Transplant which was scheduled for September 5, 2008.
With my new bone marrrow, a new rebirth of my Life begins…