Fundraiser for Union boy with bone marrow condition
UNION – Jenny Christiansen felt humbled when family and friends recently decided to put together a summer fundraiser for her son.
The Union resident is a mother of four children all younger than 4 years old, including Teddy, a 2-year-old boy with a life-threatening bone marrow condition.
Christiansen and her husband, Brad, have been by Teddy’s side during his frequent hospital visits since his premature birth in September 2006. He and his identical twin brother, Kenny, were born two-and-a-half months early and remained in a neonatal intensive-care unit for seven weeks.
Kenny died at 3 months old after contracting whooping cough. Six weeks later, Teddy also became ill but was able to recover after a night in the hospital.
Since then, complications continued to arise for the Christiansens.
“We started noticing patches in his mouth and thought it was thrush,” Jenny Christiansen said. “We went in for an endoscopy and discovered a stricture in his throat. Every six to eight weeks, he has his throat stretched out because it closes up.”
Although Teddy is able to eat whatever he wants, he receives 99.9 percent of his nutrition from a feeding tube in his stomach.
Additional blood tests later revealed that Teddy’s bone marrow was about half as dense as it should be. More test results will tell whether Teddy’s syndrome is what the family thinks it is – an extreme genetic variant of dyskeratosis congenita, which can lead to solid organ cancer or leukemia.
Doctors have told Teddy’s parents that bone marrow failure was imminent and that he eventually would need a transplant.
However, the blood platelet transfusions that he needs during each esophagus stretching add further risks to a transplant.
“We want to put it off for as long as we can,” Jenny Christiansen said. “We’re all kind of just in this holding pattern until we get a final diagnosis.”
Until then, Teddy’s sisters – nearly 4-year-old Raelyn and 11-month-old identical twins Bridget and Josie – are a constant distraction for Teddy. He also enjoys time spent playing with his favorite toy, a veterinary hospital set.
He took turns Friday morning scooting across the living room carpet in his temporary walker and crawling over to his tiny red doctor’s chair near the front window.
“Physical therapy has been going so well,” his mother noted. “A year ago, he wouldn’t even lay on his belly. He would just squirm on his back like a turtle.”
As Teddy banged together colorful building blocks, his grandmother scooped him into her arms. When asked about the odds of her daughter giving birth to two sets of identical twins within three years, Barb Conley of Huntley just smiled.
“I always said, ‘Jenny’s one in a million,’” Conley said.
“Well, Teddy is one in 20 million,” her daughter replied.
Teddypalooza
• What: Fundraiser benefiting 2-year-old Teddy Christiansen of Union, who is in need of a bone marrow transplant.
• When: 4 to 10 p.m. June 20.
• Where: Gymnasium of St. Stephen Protomartyr Catholic Church, 1280 Prospect Ave., Des Plaines.
• Activities: Food and beverages, live music, games, raffles, and a silent auction. All proceeds will benefit the Teddy Christiansen Foundation to help offset the family’s medical costs.
• Information: To learn about Teddy and his fundraiser, visit www.caring
bridge.org/visit/teddychristiansen.