Tanner Joseph Matney
Born: November 27th, 2008

Tanner CAN Fund
Read Tanners's story below and then review fundraisers being planned. 

Tanner CAN survive IPEX.

Tanner Joseph Matney, born November 27, 2008 to mother Kim Green Matney and father Richard Matney of Mt. Airy, MD. Both parents are native to the area. Kim grew up in Damascus, MD and attended Damascus High School and Rick was raised in Ashton, MD and attended Sherwood High School.

Tanner was born with IPEX, a deadly autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disorders occur when the immune system malfunctions and attacks the body's own tissues and organs. He’s been on steroids and other medicines since birth which only mask the symptoms temporarily until he’s healthy enough to withstand chemo treatments and a bone marrow transplant.

In preparation for the bone marrow transplant, he has been taken off all medication which will consequently result in the IPEX disease to rear its ugly head and invade Tanner’s little body once again, causing all his earlier symptoms to resurface - severe rash, weight loss, hair loss and loss of muscle tone. Tanner will become very frail and extremely susceptible to all germs and infections.

Once he’s had the transplant he must undergo more chemo to guarantee that all IPEX has been eliminated once and for all. If all this goes well, and with God’s help, Tanner’s body won’t reject the new bone marrow and he will begin to thrive. There is a two year window that doctors say he needs to make.

IPEX disease is so rare that unless your doctor works at one of our country’s leading research hospitals such as: Johns Hopkins, NIH, St. Jude’s, or The Mayo Clinic, the disease could be misdiagnosed. Tanner is the 50th “recorded” case of IPEX in the world. This disease only attacks male babies and left untreated they don’t live to see their first birthday.

Needless to say the family has been hit with extreme medical bills. We’ve teamed up with the Patty Pollatos Fund in order to raise money for the Matney family. If you would like to make a donation, please make checks payable to:

PPF, Inc.
 c/o Darcey Matney
24612 Showbarn Circle
Damascus, MD 20872
PPF, Inc. include Tanner Matney in the memo portion of the check and mail to:

Dear Friends, Family and Co-workers,

We have created “TEAM TANNER” at Denison Landscaping!!!  James, Amanda, Adam, Bill, Tom, Chris, Vince, Justin, Janeen and myself have committed to run the Woodrow Wilson Bridge ˝ marathon (13.1 miles), on October 2, 2011. Along with many co-workers, we’ll be raising donations to help support Tanner Matney‘s medical expenses!!

Tanner is a 2 ˝ year boy who has IPEX disease.  This amazing little boy has overcome all odds and years of chemotherapy, radiation treatments and bone marrow transplants at John’s Hopkins.  Please read his heroic story on the link below. 

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/centers/pediatric_oncology/patient_stories/tanner.html

Our goal is to raise $10,000!!!  Any contributions small or large would be greatly appreciated by “TEAM TANNER” and Denison Landscaping! 

Please make check payable to:

Patty Pollatos Fund (PPF)

Please MAIL check to:

Denison Landscaping

Att: Patty Pollatos Fund

8911 Oxon Hill Road

Fort Washington, MD 20744

Team Tanner's Facebook Page

And for any runners or volunteers that would like to support our team, please email me at candre@denisonlandscaping.com !!

Thank you for all of your support,

Chrissie Andre for

TEAM TANNER