Baby Emily

Hello everyone. My name is Christopher Garner and my wife’s name is Katy. We are proud parents of three wonderful children: Chris II age 13, Vincent age 12, and Emily age 3. I’m a volunteer firefighter at Central Joint Fire Department and I work full time at the Fiat Chrysler Assembly Complex in Toledo Ohio. My wife is a wonderful stay at home mother. On August 9th our three year old baby (Emily) was diagnosed with pre b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This diagnoses absolutely devastated our family. In two days time Emily went from a playful happy little girl to one who could no longer stand upright. Emily was bedridden for over a month and her doctor at Saint Vincent’s Hospital said Emily had one of the worst cases of leukemia that she has ever seen. Since Emily’s diagnoses she has had approximately 15 blood transfusions, 15 blood platelet transfusions, 15 spinal taps, chemo port surgery, and a dozen or so medicines including chemo that her body needs to live. Emily also suffers from acute liver failure which means her liver is no longer assisting in her fight against her cancer. On 10/02/18 Emily’s body built up antibodies against her chemo treatment Peg Asparaginase. Emily can no longer receive that medicine as a way to save her life. Plan b to save Emily’s life is a chemo treatment called Erwinia. Unfortunately there’s a nationwide shortage of this drug and we’ve had no luck finding it in other areas. Her body rejected plan a. Peg Asparaginase, we haven’t found Erwinia for plan b. and there’s no plan c. There are no other options for Emily. This leads us to believe that the best thing for Emily would be for us to make a trip to a larger hospital that may be better equipped to deal with her cancer. We’ve had our eye on Saint Jude’s Hospital in Memphis Tennessee. When we found out Emily had cancer everything stopped. I wasn’t working, my two boys started homeschooling as a way to prevent bringing home viruses to Emily and all our time was devoted to being with her for a time that (as her doctor said it) would be the most intense chemo treatment and worst phase a person can go through. In one week Emily will start a new phase of cancer treatment where she will be given a drug (methotrexate) that is so strong that once injected it will take up to 4-7 days in the hospital to flush it from her body just to have it reinjected once her body is clean. We need help. We have rent, gas, electric, internet, car insurance etc. that must be maintained all while we uproot ourselves for a life saving year long trip to Tennessee that we already can’t afford. Like most parents we just want what’s best for Emily and that’s to save her life and I don’t believe this will be possible without your undying support. Please consider donating to help save Emily’s life.