HUDSONVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) — She was born with a nearly nonexistent immune system, but that hasn't stopped 2-year-old Jada Elenbaas from making history.
At 7 months old in April 2017, she became the first child in Michigan to survive a thymus transplant.
Jada was born without one, so just a few germs could be deadly to the Hudsonville toddler. That means her family has kept Jada and themselves in a tight bubble. They have virtually no visitors, not even family members.
"Sickness is a huge deal because she can't fight off any sickness at all," Michael Elenbaas, Jada's father, told 24 Hour News 8 via Skype Thursday. "Anything that comes in, groceries (or) anything, we wipe down everything because it's so critical."
Jada's mother Amanda Elenbaas said doctors noticed abnormalities when Jada was a week old. She was later diagnosed with completeDiGeorge syndrome, a chromosomal disorder. Jada couldn't produce T-cells, which meant she didn't have an immune system.
There were several hurdles as they raced to get the thymus transplant. The procedure isn't approved by the Food and Drug Administration, so there were months of insurance battles.
"I think they told us it was around $900,000 if we wanted to pay for it ourselves," Amanda Elenbaas recalled.
Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids helped out greatly.
"We're very lucky to have Helen DeVos so close," Amanda Elenbaas said.
"We relied on them a lot to fight for us and they did," her husband added.
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