‘Bubble family’ quarantines for months to protect baby born with no immunity
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS) - A California family of four has been quarantined for months while awaiting a lifesaving implant for their baby, who has basically no immune system.
The Landron family has lived in isolation for almost nine months to protect their immunocompromised daughter, Syanne. Any exposure to germs or infections could be deadly for her.
“We don’t see anybody. There is no six feet apart. You don’t go near anybody. We wear a mask anywhere and everywhere,” said Syanne’s mother, Marilyn Landron. “Even if we’re going to the trash, we put a mask on… We don’t go to stores."
Syanne was born without a thymus gland, which prevented her body from adapting its T cells. T cells are a crucial part of a person’s immune system. Without them, the baby’s body cannot defend itself against infections, cancers and other diseases.
“We’re scared for her at all times. Our biggest concern is that she can’t get sick,” said Syanne’s father, Alex Landron. “It’s been terrifying and lonely.”
The diagnosis changed the way the Landrons lived, with Alex Landron working from home and their older son, Dean, now being homeschooled. They’ve celebrated holidays and birthdays from afar while family and friends drop off deliveries of food and supplies. Whenever Syanne is not at home, which is only when she goes to her doctor, she is inside a plastic shield.
Dr. Caroline Kuo, Syanne’s immunologist, says babies without T cells usually don’t live past one year or a little longer than one year.
“When we say that we want this baby to be free of infections, we mean all infections,” Kuo said. “I don’t just mean the really serious ones. I mean common viruses that we all come into with. So, that means that this family has had to have very minimal with the outside world.”
Just a few weeks ago, Syanne was approved to get a thymus implant. It will come from another healthy baby who’s undergoing surgery and could save her life. However, the Landrons will have to wait to get a call from Duke University, the only facility in the United States that can perform the implant.
There’s no telling when Syanne might get a match, but her family is prepared to stay in a bubble for as long as it takes.
“We are very, very big on the power of prayer… The more that we can get prayed for her. God’s listening, and that’s all that we are hoping for,” Marilyn Landron said.
Once the family gets the call from Duke, Syanne and her mother will board a medical plane and fly in isolation to North Carolina. Now that their insurance provider has approved them for the $3.2 million surgery, they could get the call within a month.
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