About Us
After seven years of marriage, Trevor Norby was born on April 8, 1997 and three years later brother Drew was born on April 18, 2000. Both boys came in to this world very happy and very healthy. Neither of the boys has ever been on antibiotics, so it came as quite a shock when Trevor started bruising easily and looking ‘grayish’ in his skin color. December 6, 2006, Trevor was diagnosed with Idiopathic Aplastic Anemia.
What is “Aplastic Anemia”? In aplastic anemia, the bone marrow stops producing enough new blood cells. This means that you have not only a deficit of red blood cells but also a shortage of white blood cells to fight germs and platelets to help blood clot. You’re at higher risk of infections and uncontrolled bleeding. Treatments may include observation for very mild cases, medications, blood transfusions and bone marrow transplantation.
After testing Drew to see if he would be a bone marrow match, realization set in when he was not. Next, an ATG with a horse serum was given to Trevor in January of 2007 after shutting down his immune system completely. Trevor missed almost 5 months of his fourth grade school year but was able to return the day after his 10th birthday. His life has been a roller coaster of blood draws, dr. appt., becoming an advocate and spokesperson for the San Diego Blood Bank as well as for the Bone Marrow Foundation of San Diego. He has a passion for raising awareness in the community of the importance of blood donation as well as registering your marrow on the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry. Each time he sees a pregnant woman, he asks her to donate her cord blood to save a life. If he sees someone in public with a blue bandage around their arm, he thanks them for donating blood and saving 2 lives. He is still very active in baseball as that is his passion. Not many restrictions are put on him now but being back on meds due to low blood counts, he is more aware of safety on the ball field.
Our family life has gotten stronger through all of this. Not only are we more educated in blood facts and cleanliness, but we have learned to take life one day at a time and enjoy the little things. Sunsets still amaze us and we love to share things like this with one another.
We are a “normal” family, we just have been through some tough health times and we have learned how to stop and really enjoy smelling the roses.