What is XLP? How Can You Help Baby Jackson?

While navigating around the big world of the Internet I saw a post about a young man who lives in Anne Arundel County. This young man's name is Jackson and he is 9 months old. His story caught my attention and I wanted to learn more about what he was going through. "Baby Jackson" has been in and out of the hospital and doctor offices since July. Four months later his parents found out what his symptoms meant. In November he was diagnosed with a rare immune disorder known as XLP. Baby Jackson is only the 24th documented case in the United States.

Reading through his CaringBridge page and a Facebook page his parents set up I could see that this young man had dedication and would not let anything bring his happiness down. Since November he has gone through chemothearpy and IVIG. 

What is a XLP? XLP stands for X-linked lymphroliferative disease. It is a disorder of the immune system and the blood forming cells and is genitic. XLP is an extremely rare disease that affects only men. Baby Jackson is going through 10 rounds of chemothearpy at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and also gets IVIG. IVIG is known as Immunoglobulin Therapy.

So now you ask how can I help? What can I do to help Baby Jackson? How you can help is pretty easy. Talking with Jackson's mom, Jackson requires a bone marrow transplant. So far they have not found a matching donor within the country or even internationally. You can register on the bone marrow donation website. They will send a packet and you take two swabs of your inner cheeck and send it back. You can learn more here. 

Please take the time and sign up in person or through the National Bone Marrow website. Next Monday, on Martin Luther King Day, you could travel to Glen Dale and register. On that day you could be a match for Baby Jackson.

You can read updates on Baby Jackson's condition here.