Nene was born in March 2013. When his new birth blood screening results came back as 'Abnormal', we followed up to see a hematologist at the AFLAC Cancer and Blood Disorder clinic at Hughes Spalding. At 2 months old, he was diagnosed with Beta Thalassemia major, a blood disorder in which the body is unable to make normal adult hemoglobin.

We started seeing symptoms of the disease when he was 6 months old, with his RBC starting to drop to low levels. At age 6 months, he received his first blood transfusion and continued getting blood in subsequent months at the AFLAC clinic at Scottish Rite with Dr. Maa-Ohui Quarmyne. He'll be taken to the hospital every 3 weeks for labs and will be transfused every 4-5 weeks.

At age 2, Nene started iron chelation treatment to reduce his high iron levels due to the monthly blood transfusions.

His treatment and diagnosis had a major impact on our family since one parent had to give up work to help him keep Nene in treatment.

We started asking for cure options for him. Dr. Quarmyne helped us connect to Be The Match. We then followed up with blood works and later received good news that they had found two perfect matches for him.

He was referred to the AFLAC BMT clinic at Egleston to continue his treatment for bone marrow transplant (BMT). He had his first BMT on September 22, 2015, at the Aflac BMT inpatient unit. Our 6 weeks stay there was especially made comfortable and easier due to the staff and volunteers who'll come by to spend time playing with him and bring him toys and souvenirs. Sometimes, it didn't feel like he was being treated at all due to all the activities he was able to be engaged in.

We stayed at the Ronald McDonald's house (RMH) at Egleston for Christmas in 2015, until he was fully discharged to go home. Our stay there was awesome. A year later, Nene started losing the donor cells and received a second BMT on January 20, 2017.

We had similar great experience at hospital, both inpatient and outpatient. The staff was great, and he was always excited to see his doctors and nurses.

The second transplant had been successful. He was discharged from the AFLAC BMT Clinic at Egleston and was sent back to Dr. Quarmyne at the AFLAC clinic at Scottish Rite to continue his care.

The doctors and care team, including social workers, have been there to provide us with answers to all our questions. Doctors have been available on call for my family during late night emergencies.

Our overall experience with AFLAC has been awesome. Having a child who needs regular medical care can be stressful but the entire clinic staff help make things a whole lot easier. They're always very nice and welcoming to us. They provide us with resources to make things easier for our family. Most importantly, Nene always leaves the clinic with a broad smile in his face. Thank you for all you do! You are the real heroes.