Anthony's Avengers


My name is Dusty Evernden and I’m a nurse in Dallas. My sister Deni is a single mother of 3 in Chicago. This her baby.
This is Anthony  Christopher - my youngest nephew, just three years old in the above picture. Our world stopped on September 24, 2018 when Anthony was diagnosed with high-risk leukemia. His condition was so fragile that he was admitted straight from the Emergency department at Lurie Children's in Chicago to the PICU. For four harrowing days, Anthony received over 6 units of red blood cells and 4 units of platelets in order to be medically stable enough to undergo surgery to place a port and take some of his bone marrow; a step necessary to diagnose the specific type of leukemia so that a treatment plan could be put into place to get Anthony into remission.  He had 97% blasts in his circulating blood and his marrow was over 97% leukemic cells.

Treatment for leukemia will take almost three years. We have been very fortunate that he has been able to have most of his treatment on an outpatient basis. That entails his mother taking a day off of work to spend sometimes upwards of eight hours in the clinic and infusion center. My sister is a single mom, working full-time with three kids. She has no vehicle and relies entirely on public transportation and ride-sharing. 

During treatment, Anthony's immune system will be devastated as the chemotherapy attacks not only the leukemia cells but also healthy immune cells. His port - the implanted device through which he receives his chemotherapy is a direct line to his heart. Those two things mean any fever that Anthony has is a life-threatening emergency; necessitating a trip to the Children's Emergency Department within the hour and possible admission to the hospital if his immune system remains weak. 



Recently, Anthony was prescribed a medication for his nausea/vomiting from treatment; his insurance wouldn't cover it because he was not older than ten years old. A one month supply would cost $425.00. And THAT is just a supportive medication. That's not even the life-saving chemotherapy.

During inpatient admissions, my sister will have to arrange for care for the siblings; Vincent (9) and Ava (8). 

Family in the Chicago-area is scarce for my sister and she has relied on the generous help of her wonderful friends such as meals on clinic days, caring for the siblings and/or the dogs, use of their cars and rides to/from the hospital in Chicago.

Generous donations of any size will be used for his life-saving medical treatment (current bills from PICU admission, port surgery, inpatient chemo stays), and supplies preparing for maintenance. IT will also be used to offset travel expenses from the suburbs to the city for treatment every week for the next three years.


Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers throughout this difficult time. 

They say it takes a village. Thank you for becoming a part of our village!