Zach Neary, a friendly, energetic junior seems like the average teenager: he attends school every day, enjoys hanging out with his friends, and is part of the Varsity Volleyball team. Anyone who is not aware of his life story would even suspect that he is afflicted with hypogammagloubulanemia, a rare genetic immune deficiency disease that makes him much more susceptible to illnesses than most people.
As a child, Neary unusually got sick very frequently. A common cold that usually lasts a few days and is not very severe would leave him ill for weeks. “When I get sick I get sicker and longer,” he explained. His parents began to realize that something was not right, but were unsure of the exact problem. The doctors were equally stumped as to the cause of his abnormally severe illnesses. For years and years, Neary’s parents took him to doctor after doctor to see if one of them could solve the puzzling medical conundrum. There, he underwent numerous tedious tests, none of which seemed to point to a clear answer.
     Finally four years ago, Neary visited UCI Medical Center and underwent some testing. The results were sent to Doctor Gupta, the leading immunologist in the nation and he identified Neary’s condition as hypogammagloubulanemia, a disease caused by an antibody deficiency. “I was glad we figured out what was wrong,” commented Neary with a smile.
Unfortunately, his days of doctor’s visits and tests were not over. Once he diagnosed the disease, Doctor Gupta declared that in order to treat the incurable disorder, Neary would have to receive antibody infusions from other people. For the first year, Neary had to try a myriad of different infusions because his body was reacting poorly to the transferred antibodies. “School was extremely difficult that year because I had to miss fifty days of school so that the doctors could figure out what infusions my body would accept,” he admitted. 
Once the doctor had finally figured out which antibodies match his body most perfectly, Neary was instructed to return to UCI Medical Center every three weeks to receive the infusions. “I now have a nurse that comes to my house. It takes five hours every time,” he explained.
     Despite the tedious monotony of frequent infusions, Neary is glad that his doctors were able to come up with a treatment, since he no longer gets sick as often or for such a long period of time. As a result of the treatment, Neary was finally able to play sports; something he’d always wanted to do but was unable to do since his disease left him excessively tired. He decided to play volleyball and with determination, he made it onto the varsity squad after just two years of playing- an incredible feat even for someone who is not battling an immune defficeincy.Though at present the disease has no cure, Zach Neary is determined to lead a normal life rather than let the disease control him.