LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Las Vegas teenager Bryan Guercioni can't eat enough food to make him grow. The lack of nutrition also leaves him weary, with no strength to shoot hoops or make it through an airport without a wheelchair.
The 16-year-old Las Vegas High School student suffers from chronic Crohn's disease. Portions of his small intestine are so diseased, it's difficult to digest and process food.
Bryan's disease is so severe he has been approved to receive a rare experimental stem cell transplant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The teen would be the 11th person in the country to receive the transplant to help combat Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease caused by a dysfunctional immune system.
"I still have a chance to hit my next growth spurt if I can go into remission," said the 5-foot-8-inch, 100-pound teenager. "I want to fly helicopters in the Army someday."
Bryan was diagnosed with Crohn's disease nearly a year ago, after he had lost 50 pounds and had constant stomach pain and cramping. Since then, he has been in the hospital three times and has missed 49 days of school.
He only consumes liquid supplements and rice cereal, along with dozens of daily pills to combat pain, infection and his dysfunctional immune system.
"Eating used to be my hobby, but not anymore," Bryan said. "I'm mostly housebound now. I don't have the liberty to eat what I want or to even ride a bike or play basketball, because activity aggravates my stomach."
Bryan hopes the stem cell transplant will control the disease and put Bryan into remission.
All 10 patients who have received the transplant no longer suffer from any symptoms related to the disease, said Dr. Richard Burt, a stem cell transplant specialist and chief of the division of immunotherapy at Northwestern.
"We offer the stem cell transplant to those who have very serious disease and have failed everything else," Burt said. "The 10 we have done are all doing great and are in clinical remission."
The stem cell transplant procedure is still considered experimental, but it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials two years ago.
Bryan was scheduled to receive the transplant Sept. 15, but his father, a local police officer, has yet to come up with the $100,000 needed for the transplant, living expenses in Chicago and follow-up medical care.
Insurance won't cover the medical costs, because the transplant is considered experimental.
Ron Guercioni said surgery is an option to remove the diseased portion of his son's bowel, but that the disorder will resurface. The boy will have to continue having surgery until he no longer has any bowels left.
"The stem cell transplant will save his life," said the father, who is taking out a second mortgage on his home to help pay for the procedure. "He can grow up to be a man and lead a normal life. I can't even wrestle with my boy right now."
The Guercionis say they hope to have enough money to pay for the procedure sometime this year.
"It's been very hard," said his sister, Nicole. "Bryan is my best friend, and I haven't seen pure joy in him in a very long time. The best thing about this transplant is that I'd get to see him happy again."
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