Sweet Ellena's Journey: Battle Against Leukemia
Donation protected
Hi family and friends!
Thank you for taking your time, and showing your love, care and support by visiting here on Ellena Maree Rickert's GoFundMe page. Every ounce of support is needed, felt, noticed, and so greatly appreciated. Caleb and Jamie thank you from the bottom of their hearts.
Ellena's journey so far:
A couple weeks ago, our sweet Ellena (8 years old) began feeling pain in her wrist, which quickly became unbearable for her. Caleb and Jamie (Momma and Papa) loaded up Ellena and her 3 younger siblings (CJ, Herman, and Justina - 6,4,and 5mo) and took her to their pediatrician. They found no fracture or break and thought she may have had an infection. She was given antibiotics which, in the beginning, helped very much. After the antibiotics were finished, it started all over again. The pain returned. This was the beginning of their journey to find out what was happening to their sweet girl. Another visit at their doctor's office soon became the beginning of Ellena's hospital stay and extensive testing. After a week in the hospital, IV antibiotics (because even the doctors thought it was Ostiomyelitis, a bone infection, at first), multiple tests and procedures (blood, IVs, MRI, bone biopsy, bone marrow biopsy, lumbar puncture), and an emotional rollercoaster, Ellena was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Lord Have Mercy.
This week...
Our sweet Ellena had a Mediport (a central line) placed on Friday (May 9, 2019), and she began her first week of chemotherapy treatment. This week is likely the most intense. She started with a lumbar puncture (LP) to test her spinal fluid for leukemia cells, and also to inject chemo directly into her spine. We were very thankful that her spinal fluid had zero leukemia cells! A victory for us! That same day she got her first chemo infusion. She will get this infusion weekly (every Friday) for 28 days, as well as daily medication as part of her treatment. As well, she had a different chemo injection this week, which she hopefully won't have to do again for a while. This coming Friday she will have another LP to have a different chemo drug injection. This is standard treatment to ensure no leukemia cells grow there. After that she will get her weekly infusion and be discharged from the hospital.
This month and forward...
This first month of her chemotherapy is one of the most intense, as it is to force Ellena's body into remission. The best analogy we have heard is to think of leukemia like a bee hive. It's a very simple and basic analogy to try and understand what's happening inside Ellena's body. The first intense week is to kill off all the worker bees (all the leukemia cells) and then the rest of the treatment is to find and kill the queen bee. Once we kill the queen bee, the hive dies, and Ellena has the best chance of being leukemia free and it, hopefully, never coming back again.
There are multiple phases to her treatment and there is still much for us to learn. We are taking it one "phase" at a time. In all, her treatment will take two and a half years. The first 9 months will be the most intense. She will, most likely, lose her hair. We were glad to learn that after the 9 months it should begin to grow back.
Prognosis is good! B-Cell ALL is the most common type of leukemia in children. 80-90% of children go on to live healthy lives, with no recurrence. Lord Have Mercy!
Ellena is being pushed to her limit. She is strong and brave! But this is almost more than she can bear. She finds her strength in God, because through Him all things are possible. She finds comfort and peace knowing that The Mother of God is present with her and holding her throughout each day. Glory to God for all things.
More about the family...
Caleb, Jamie, and the three little ones, have been at the hospital everyday with Ellena. Caleb and the boys have only left, when they've had to, at night to sleep in the nearest hotel, or Ronald Macdonald House (when available). Jamie and baby Justina have not left Ellena's side. Life and work have been put on hold and many changes are having to be made. The Rickert family is going to need supporting hands on a daily basis. It has become necessary for them to move closer to family. They will be moving up to the Coeur d'Alene, ID area, where their family has offered and would like to help them shoulder this for the coming years. Providence Sacred Heart Children's Hospital is near by and is a wonderful and special place with kind people and fantastic doctors. They found a house in Rathdrum, ID in the same neighborhood as Caleb's parents (Dn. Mark Seraphim & Jeanne) and brothers (Seth & Jason). They are expecting to move in at the beginning of June. They will be in walking distance of family! As well, the kiddos' cousin, Faith, and Aunt & Uncle will be just down the road!
Even thinking about a move right now is overwhelming. We are hoping to take as much of the burden off of Caleb and Jamie, so that they can focus on sweet Ellena and their family during this time. Caleb will be transferring through his trucking company to the Spokane terminal. What a blessing! When and how the move will be made is still being figured out, as Ellena's health and condition is top priority. However, when the time comes, Jamie will need to fly up with Ellena and Justina, since Ellena will most likely not be well enough to make the drive with the boys. We will keep everyone posted as things come to light! In the meantime, as you can imagine, things are adding up between the medical, work taken off, hotel stays, packing, moving, deposit, rent, flights, the list goes on.
Ellena and her family are so grateful to have such amazing friends and family to support them through this trial in life. It is new and unknown and scary and extremely physically and emotionally trying and exhausting. They are strong individuals, and an even stronger force to be reckoned with as a family. Together, they will beat this, but it is going to be a long and exhausting battle. Any support, whether it be emotional, physical, spiritual, or financial that we can give, to lift a little of the weight off their shoulders, makes a huge difference.
Thank you again for your love and care for our sweet baby girl. God Bless.
Thank you for taking your time, and showing your love, care and support by visiting here on Ellena Maree Rickert's GoFundMe page. Every ounce of support is needed, felt, noticed, and so greatly appreciated. Caleb and Jamie thank you from the bottom of their hearts.
Ellena's journey so far:
A couple weeks ago, our sweet Ellena (8 years old) began feeling pain in her wrist, which quickly became unbearable for her. Caleb and Jamie (Momma and Papa) loaded up Ellena and her 3 younger siblings (CJ, Herman, and Justina - 6,4,and 5mo) and took her to their pediatrician. They found no fracture or break and thought she may have had an infection. She was given antibiotics which, in the beginning, helped very much. After the antibiotics were finished, it started all over again. The pain returned. This was the beginning of their journey to find out what was happening to their sweet girl. Another visit at their doctor's office soon became the beginning of Ellena's hospital stay and extensive testing. After a week in the hospital, IV antibiotics (because even the doctors thought it was Ostiomyelitis, a bone infection, at first), multiple tests and procedures (blood, IVs, MRI, bone biopsy, bone marrow biopsy, lumbar puncture), and an emotional rollercoaster, Ellena was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Lord Have Mercy.
This week...
Our sweet Ellena had a Mediport (a central line) placed on Friday (May 9, 2019), and she began her first week of chemotherapy treatment. This week is likely the most intense. She started with a lumbar puncture (LP) to test her spinal fluid for leukemia cells, and also to inject chemo directly into her spine. We were very thankful that her spinal fluid had zero leukemia cells! A victory for us! That same day she got her first chemo infusion. She will get this infusion weekly (every Friday) for 28 days, as well as daily medication as part of her treatment. As well, she had a different chemo injection this week, which she hopefully won't have to do again for a while. This coming Friday she will have another LP to have a different chemo drug injection. This is standard treatment to ensure no leukemia cells grow there. After that she will get her weekly infusion and be discharged from the hospital.
This month and forward...
This first month of her chemotherapy is one of the most intense, as it is to force Ellena's body into remission. The best analogy we have heard is to think of leukemia like a bee hive. It's a very simple and basic analogy to try and understand what's happening inside Ellena's body. The first intense week is to kill off all the worker bees (all the leukemia cells) and then the rest of the treatment is to find and kill the queen bee. Once we kill the queen bee, the hive dies, and Ellena has the best chance of being leukemia free and it, hopefully, never coming back again.
There are multiple phases to her treatment and there is still much for us to learn. We are taking it one "phase" at a time. In all, her treatment will take two and a half years. The first 9 months will be the most intense. She will, most likely, lose her hair. We were glad to learn that after the 9 months it should begin to grow back.
Prognosis is good! B-Cell ALL is the most common type of leukemia in children. 80-90% of children go on to live healthy lives, with no recurrence. Lord Have Mercy!
Ellena is being pushed to her limit. She is strong and brave! But this is almost more than she can bear. She finds her strength in God, because through Him all things are possible. She finds comfort and peace knowing that The Mother of God is present with her and holding her throughout each day. Glory to God for all things.
More about the family...
Caleb, Jamie, and the three little ones, have been at the hospital everyday with Ellena. Caleb and the boys have only left, when they've had to, at night to sleep in the nearest hotel, or Ronald Macdonald House (when available). Jamie and baby Justina have not left Ellena's side. Life and work have been put on hold and many changes are having to be made. The Rickert family is going to need supporting hands on a daily basis. It has become necessary for them to move closer to family. They will be moving up to the Coeur d'Alene, ID area, where their family has offered and would like to help them shoulder this for the coming years. Providence Sacred Heart Children's Hospital is near by and is a wonderful and special place with kind people and fantastic doctors. They found a house in Rathdrum, ID in the same neighborhood as Caleb's parents (Dn. Mark Seraphim & Jeanne) and brothers (Seth & Jason). They are expecting to move in at the beginning of June. They will be in walking distance of family! As well, the kiddos' cousin, Faith, and Aunt & Uncle will be just down the road!
Even thinking about a move right now is overwhelming. We are hoping to take as much of the burden off of Caleb and Jamie, so that they can focus on sweet Ellena and their family during this time. Caleb will be transferring through his trucking company to the Spokane terminal. What a blessing! When and how the move will be made is still being figured out, as Ellena's health and condition is top priority. However, when the time comes, Jamie will need to fly up with Ellena and Justina, since Ellena will most likely not be well enough to make the drive with the boys. We will keep everyone posted as things come to light! In the meantime, as you can imagine, things are adding up between the medical, work taken off, hotel stays, packing, moving, deposit, rent, flights, the list goes on.
Ellena and her family are so grateful to have such amazing friends and family to support them through this trial in life. It is new and unknown and scary and extremely physically and emotionally trying and exhausting. They are strong individuals, and an even stronger force to be reckoned with as a family. Together, they will beat this, but it is going to be a long and exhausting battle. Any support, whether it be emotional, physical, spiritual, or financial that we can give, to lift a little of the weight off their shoulders, makes a huge difference.
Thank you again for your love and care for our sweet baby girl. God Bless.
Organizer and beneficiary
Sarah Hope Robertson
Organizer
Rathdrum, ID
Jamie Rickert
Beneficiary