LEWISTOWN — As first-time parents, Rodney Henry III and Morgan Houtz couldn’t wait to bring their newborn daughter home from the hospital.

Born on Feb, 10, baby Paisley Dawn Henry’s stay at home was short as she was diagnosed with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome (SCID), a group of rare life-threatening diseases that cause a child to be born with very little or no immune system.

As a result, a child’s body is unable to fight off infections and can become very sick from infections and can die within the first year of life. Treatment for SCID should be considered a pediatric emergency.

Certainly those are words no parent ever wants to hear.

Initial testing was conducted at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, where Paisley was born. Henry and Houtz, both age 23, were contacted by Penn State Health Children’s Hospital in Hershey five days later with the diagnosis that their newborn needed a bone marrow transplant and fast.

“When babies are born in Pennsylvania, they do a series of testing on every newborn, and it was found in her blood testing that she had no immune system — no T cells and very few white blood cells,” Houtz said.

Hershey officials called Henry and Houtz on Friday, Feb. 14, and instructed them to take immediate action to save Paisley’s life.

“They stated we needed to get here first thing Monday morning and to keep her away from people,” Henry recalled of taking Paisley to Hershey on Feb. 17.

Until a few years ago, the majority of children with severe combined immunodeficiency were not diagnosed until they were at least 6 months old and very sick. Many died in early childhood after repeated infections. Today, thanks to newborn screening in many states, early intervention, and advances in treatment, children with severe combined immunodeficiency can be successfully treated with bone marrow transplant and in some cases gene therapy.

Paisley underwent a bone marrow transplant on April 4 and will have to spend the next three to four months in Hershey for follow-up care.

To help with their expenses a number of fundraisers are being organized, including a spaghetti benefit dinner by the Milroy Lions Club at the fellowship hall of the White Memorial Church, 68 S. Main St., Milroy, from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday.

The cost of the meal is a $10 donation per person. Children under age 12 eat free. This meal includes spaghetti and meatballs, tossed salad, bread with butter, applesauce, various homemade desserts and soft drinks.

Henry is a firefighter at the Heritage Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1, 218 S. Main St. in Lewistown, which will also hold a spaghetti benefit dinner from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 27. The station has also set up a bingo night on May 4.

A car show benefit is also slated for June 28 at 80 Armstrong Lane in McClure.

“We can never thank anyone enough,” Houtz explained. “This time has shown us how much people love and care about our family.

“Our little girl is going to have one heck of a chance at a normal life,” Houtz added. “We’re so excited for everyone that has helped our journey finally be able to meet her. Most people that were able to help, haven’t gotten to actually physically meet her due to her diagnosis and us needing to keep her safe at all costs.”

Having to temporarily live in Hershey has been trying for Houtz, who is staying with her daughter, and for Henry, who joins them on weekends and occasionally through the week.

“This time has been a true test of our mental strength as new parents,” Henry said. “Learning to be a parent is difficult enough, but doing it while being divided adds a whole new obstacle.

“Making daily trips to Hershey is something that would be very difficult due to work schedule and length of travel,” Henry added. “It amounts to about three hours of driving for around two hours of being together as a family. While well worth it, it doesn’t happen every day. I do visit from Friday through Sunday every weekend, and I do make trips throughout the week on occasion.”

Paisley was admitted to the hospital in Hershey on March 24. Doctors are optimistic about her recovery following the bone marrow transplant.

The transplant involved receiving 52 milliliters of blood through a chest port. She also underwent six days of chemotherapy to prepare her body to accept the cells.

“We believe after this is all said and done she should be able to live a normal healthy life,” Houtz said. “There’s a lot of unknowns at this point. She received her stem cell transplant on April 4. At this time, we are waiting for her cells to graph and her immune system to grow then deem the transplant successful.”

In about four to five weeks, Houtz and her daughter will be able to leave the hospital and move into a nearby apartment that is specifically designed for transplant patients. Paisley will need to remain there for about 100 days where she can be closely monitored.

Once that period is over — and as long as she looks good and meets certain standards — Henry and Houtz hope she can come home. From there, she will need to have routine checkups periodically.

“The community rallying for our family has been absolutely nothing short of amazing,” Henry said. “We are blown away at the incredible support this community has given and we can never say thank you enough.

“From the donations, to the fundraisers, to the thoughts and prayers, each and every person who has helped in our journey has a very special place within our family,” Henry added.

Unfortunately, for Henry, this is not his first experience with a medical emergency of this nature. His father, Rodney Henry II, was diagnosed with Liposarcoma, an extremely rare and aggressive cancer on July 26, 2019. He passed away on Sept. 26, 2019, as the cancer attacked his kidneys and he died of kidney failure in just two months.