A Letter From Jami

Kameron grew up in Sierra Vista, AZ and served a 2 year mission for our church to Cambodia. I grew up in Payson, AZ. After graduating from high school I headed to Thatcher, AZ to attend college.

Kameron and I met at a church activity one evening during my first semester there and had mutual friends during that semester. We started dating at the beginning of my second semester and I knew that after a few weeks with him that I wanted to be with him forever. We were engaged just 2 ½ months after we started dating and were married 3 months later. We lived in Thatcher while Kameron worked and I finished my schooling. As soon as I graduated from college, we found out we were expecting our first child. In February of 2007, we welcomed our son, Kason, into our family. He has been our pride and joy ever since.

In the fall of 2007, Kameron started having some joint pain and feeling very fatigued. After going through a couple months of testing our doctor diagnosed Kameron with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE or just Lupus) in November of 2007, at the age of 27. It kind of turned our world upside down. I didn’t know very much about lupus so I started doing some research and realized that this is going to be something we fight with for the rest of his life. We visited a specialist who started Kameron on a regimen of medications for his lupus. In March of 2008, Kameron had emergency surgery to remove his gall bladder. Following the surgery he had a difficult time stabilizing because of the lupus attacking his body. He was in the hospital for 14 days and took several months of recovery. After losing his job and not being able to find decent employment we moved to Sierra Vista.

Just six months after we moved, Kameron starting feeling sick. He was more exhausted than usual, had no appetite, he kept getting fevers in the evenings. His doctor adjusted some of his medications but he continued to get sicker. On July 4th, after a visit to the Emergency Room, Kameron was admitted to Tucson Medical Center.

He has been there ever since and has been in the ICU since July 8th. Kameron is battling what they call a lupus crisis, it affect the kidneys, lungs and brain. He has been on life support for most of his time there, as well as in a drug induced coma. He has been given a 40% chance of survival and the doctors tell us his prognosis is very poor.

I try to stay very positive through everything but it can be a challenge when it’s my best friend lying in the hospital bed and there is nothing I can do to help him. He is a fighter and I know that he will give everything he’s got to make it through this – he is young and has so much living left to do and so many things to fight for.

I have been amazed by the love and support that has been shown to me and my family. People we don’t even know are so willing to help and show us their support. It is impossible to put into words the gratitude that I feel towards those who have, and will help us. Thank you, it means more than you will ever know.

Jami Haban