dmag

Dance Marathon Alumni Group

Starting in 2005, our lives were turned upside down. Our son Brandon Kauffman was diagnosed with Acute Liver Failure. Within one week, he went from a healthy four-year-old boy to a child fighting for his life on a respirator. He was in need of a liver transplant. The cause of his condition was unknown then and is still a mystery to this day.

Fortunately, Brandon was able to receive a partial liver from his uncle in Texas. We thought he was cured at that point. Unfortunately, after he had been home for a few months, we began to notice significant bruising on his body, which was not normal for him. After a blood test at Covenant Medical Center, we received a phone call from the doctor saying we needed to get him to UIHC in Iowa City for further testing.

When we arrived to Iowa City, we met Dr. Goldman and Steve, two people we considered our new best friends. Dr. Goldman diagnosed Brandon with Severe Aplastic Anemia and informed us Brandon would most likely need a bone marrow transplant. This was not the news we wanted to hear after just going through a liver transplant. We opted to try another available treatment, but it did not work. Brandon’s marrow was just not producing enough cells.

We learned in February 2006 that his 14-year-old brother Ryan was a perfect bone marrow match for Brandon. On Valentine’s Day, Ryan donated his marrow to his baby brother, saving his life. Today, almost two years later, Brandon is a normal healthy six-year-old boy, going to school and playing sports, especially wrestling.

Thank you to Dance Marathon for making our lives easier through the transplant experience and continuing to take care of us after treatment. We appreciated the comforts of the transplant unit and Dance Marathon’s funding played a giant part in our lives and road to recovery.

God Bless You All,
The Kauffman Family