Monday, May 23, 2011

Help Save A Child - URGENT REQUEST

Bone Marrow Donor and/or Financial Assistance Requested

Have you heard of a disease called MDS or Myelodysplasia? I know I had not... Not until my friend's daughter was diagnosed with it recently... MDS is a very rare bone marrow failure disease - if left untreated - it can and most likely will turn into Leukemia.. A bone marrow transplant will give Haley an 80% chance of a full recovery!

Getting a matching bone marrow has become a challenge... Unfortunately - HLA typing has determined that there are no matches within Haley's family... The preliminary bone marrow data base search has been very discouraging.. There may only be one (1) potential match and at this point there is no word if the potential donor is still interested... still available or if he/she is an appropriate match after the high resolution tests that still need to be performed (a family expense).... Because time is critical - Haley's parents, family, and friends need to be proactive... We need to get word out that Haley needs a bone marrow match.... The doctors have advised that June is when the procedure should take place...

The testing that needs to be done to determine if a match is found is a costly expense to the family.. The cost is approximately $100 per person. The $100 will cover the many tests that need to be done and it will get the potential donor on the bone marrow donor registry... We are asking for help in paying this expense... If the person is not a match for Haley - they may be able to save the life of another child... or adult... You can help Haley financially by clicking on the PayPal donate in the side bar... You can help by being tested to see if you are a match by contacting me via email at KMLDRL@aol.com... You can join Haley's Facebook page to keep posted on what's new and her progress... You can also help by lifting Haley and her family in prayer.. We serve an amazing God and His Will - will be done!

Haley's Story
Haley was an active, strong, and athletic 16 year old who played Varsity Volleyball for her high school team.. She had dreams of earning a volleyball college scholarship... She enjoyed hanging out with her friends - shopping - and all the other things that a healthy teenage girl enjoys... Her carefree life changed in October 2010...

In early October, Haley started running a fever and complained of pain when she breathed. She was taken to her primary doctor who assumed it was the flu or a cold and he prescribed an antibiotic and pain meds... By the next day - she was worse and was taken to the emergency room... She was admitted into the hospital due to her blood work being very unusual and her platelets were very low.. She was in the hospital for a couple of days and sent home... Within hours of being home - she became sicker and was admitted into the hospital again.. This time a long list of different specialists saw her - infectious disease, rhumatology, pulmonary, cardiology, and hem/oncologist.. She also went through a battery of often painful tests.. EKG, chest x-ray, CT scan of head and chest, pulmonary function tests, lumbar puncture, bronchoscopy, bone marrow biopsy, and lung biopsy.. During her four (4) week hospital stay - she was diagnosed with pleurisy, pneumonia, viral meningitis, and interstitial lung disease... She was sent home in November with instructions for regular follow up visits.... In early February - Haley's health once again declined - she was once again admitted into the hospital... This time she suffered from an extremely high fever (105 degrees) and her blood counts and platelets continued to fall... She received blood transfusions... She endured another painful bone marrow biopsy - this time the results came back with a positive diagnosis of Myelodysplasia - which is extremely rare..fewer than 100 cases of children each year....

There were signs of this disease - but they were easily overlooked...
Frequent bronchitis
Haley's finger tips and toes showed signs of clubbing (caused by not enough oxygen to the tips - which resulted in a more rounded shape)
Excessive bruising - the bruising was thought to be caused by her volleyball playing - this was also assumed by her pediatrician.

Your Help Would Be Very Much Appreciated.. If you have any questions - please email me at kmldrl@aol.com.. Thank you!





27 comments:

  1. Great blog! New follower from the blog hop. I'd love you to follow us, too! We're at http://letterlearning.blogspot.com/

    THanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kelly,
    Thanks for making us aware of this. I will show it to Cheryl. Praying for Haley.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish I could help financially. :( What I can do is pray, and that I will do!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you sister Kelly for sharing this with us. Standing in the gap with you for Haley and her family. God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Joining the praying army for Haley!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Prayers for her and her family. Thanks for posting.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am so sorry to hear about this! Sadly I can't donate my marrow, my health guidelines don't allow it right now. (working on getting fit). I really want to though. Hopefully someday I can be on the registry.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So sorry to hear about Haley. Praying for her now.
    Thanks for sharing this, Kelly.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is heartbreaking. She is a beautiful girl. I will include her in my prayers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a scary time for Haley and her family...I wish them only the best in finding a match, and strength beyond her (and her family's) own in facing this struggle.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Have posted your comment on my blog as you wished. Hope you get a great responce from my followers. Haley will be in prayers from all over the world, and your correct...God's perfect Will will be done.

    I have decided to follow your blog and watch as things unfold i Halley's case. Hope you'l follow me back.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That's my bad...I see that we are already following one another through your "Salvation" blog.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kelly thank you for stopping by my blog and telling me about Haley! I will be praying. Im not able to be a donor due to health and fincailly I am unable too. But I do know the God that knows where those resources are so I will happily pray.
    Blessings

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm not in good health so, my donating would not even be considered....I do hope and pray that there will be someone to help her very soon----prayers being said right now as I type...and daily will include her and her family. I also must add that what you're doing to help is inspirational!!

    The world needs MORE people like you.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you so much for letting me know about this..I will be praying. I am on the donor list for transplants. However, since I registered I was diagnosed with a blood disorder and they likely would not let me donate to someone b/c of it. I pray many others will register. It is a simple blood draw and paperwork and could save someone's life. Bone Marrow donation is a fairly simple procedure. I was sad when I found out my own illness would now prevent my donating. I always had hopes of being someone's match. God bless, andrea

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've posted it on my facebook web page http://www.facebook.com/willcookforsmiles

    I hope it make at least a little bit of a difference.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Stopping by from voiceBoks - have liked Haley's page.

    What a sad story. I would be willing to be tested - am in Canada.

    xo
    babymama
    avagracescloset

    ReplyDelete
  18. Babymama - thank you so much!
    Canada can be tested too - I will have more information very soon.
    Love
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks for coming by. Sorry for the delay - problems with blogger. I'll help spread the word and do what I can.
    Blessings to you.
    xoRobyn

    ReplyDelete
  20. Rawknrobyn - thank you very much!
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  21. New follower from Robyn's page. I will keep your family in my thoughts. xxoxx

    FourthGradeNothing.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. I thought I would share with you my post for today. I think that you might like it, as it pertains to this post.

    http://www.notjustanothermotherblogger.com/2011/05/thank-you-donors.html

    ReplyDelete
  23. I am on the International Bone Marrow Registry.

    I will also be giving blood tomorrow (there is a drive in my town) in honor of my son (who required a blood transfusion during his last hospital stay).

    I've been told that Bone Marrow donations are not that painful (anymore). Besides, 85% of donations are made via blood donation.

    Submitting yourself for a test takes 5 minutes (plus time for paperwork) and 8 mouth swabs.

    Imagine if it was your child or family member that needed the gift of life...

    I pray that Haley finds the match she needs.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Haley is my cousin, I've known that she was sick and was trying to find a link to donate when I found your page. Thank you so much for sharing and asking people to help! If you don't mind I've nabbed your link to share with others in hopes of finding more potential donors.

    ReplyDelete
  25. My thoughts are with Haley, her family and her friends. I am on the bone marrow registration list in Canada and it was a super easy thing to do. I hope she finds a match.

    LisaDay

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thank you LisaDay - Unfortunately Haley did not make it - She passed away a year ago last November. Almost 1 year to the date that she was diagnosed. Please pray for her family - it has been a very difficult year.
    Sincerely,
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin