Click Here to Help This Family & To Learn More!
<<LEAH'S STORY>>
On New Years day our daughter Leah came into our room at 4 am complaining of being dizzy and having a headache. She had a fever of 104 so we went to the ER where they did the usual tests. The Drs told us she was extremely anemic and that we needed to go to CHMC in Omaha. While there, Leah was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) a rare and agressive form of Leukemia. We were destroyed, devastated beyond comprehension. My little sweet girl with her free spirit and active life style suddenly may not get to live out her life. It seems unreal like a bad dream. The road ahead will be difficult to say the least. We live an hour away and have to visit the hospital multiple times a week for her treatments. The medication alone is a huge cost not to mention travel costs. The financial burden seems daunting. We have no idea how long her treatments will take, but it could be months to years. Anything you can contribute no matter how much will be so much appreciated. We truly thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Help us save our sweet little girl please !
Click Here to Help This Family & To Learn More!
RECENT UPDATE
<<Dad's Response>>
The results of giving are always beyond calculations....
Just want to thank all of you again for the donations - this really will go a long way to help my daughter and family survive this whole crazy nightmare! In case you are wondering about the details and how the money will be used here are some things we will soon have to pay for and deal with.
First, I want to let you know what exactly she has, Leah was diagnosed with High Risk Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, it is very rare and extremely aggressive, something like 50-70 kids are diagnosed with this each year. It is known for early death usually within the first week or so, fortunately APL is treatable if you catch in time and the patient responds well to the harsh treatments.
Leukemia is a blood disorder and in Leah’s case her platelets were nearly gone. Platelets help your blood clot so you dont bleed to death, which means her blood can’t clot so she could bleed to death from a bruise or a needle prick. Platelets are expensive and she has had and will possibly need more I-V drips of platelets. With Leukemia the hemoglobin levels tend to drop dramatically. Hemoglobin is what carries the oxygen and without it you die. This requires blood transfusions to replenish the hemoglobin level, luckily Leah is O + which means she can receive all blood types, depending on if she has a bad reaction, she has had more than a few and may need more in the future - also expensive.
She takes 3 drugs that to the lay person fall under the terminology of chemo drugs to help kill the Leukemia cells, i.e. reduce her white blood cell count which is high - so high she is at risk of what is called early death i.e. high risk. She receives these meds every day and some of them multiple times a day for the next several months to years depending on how her body responds. She also receives a slew of other meds to make sure the chemo meds dont kill her. All of these drugs are expensive.
She will be in the hospital a straight 46 days minimum. My wife and I drive back and forth an hour each way between our home and the hospital multiple times a week. Fortunately, my wife was able to take off work but in order to meet the time demands she will most likely have to take leave without pay for an extended period of time. I wont get into the at home care needed for her now as it is also extremely intensive and necessary to keep Leah from getting sick due to a compromised immune system.
Your donations will go toward all of these costs and keep my daughter alive and well and my family from going bankrupt. I can’t even begin to express how much this means to me every single one of you whether you donated money, shared her story, or told someone a friend, family member, or complete stranger, I now consider you part of my family.
I will never forget this and I will pay it forward. Thank you so much I love you all so much!