ASHLIE COLLINS - LEUKEMIA FUNDRAISER

Family and Friends - My daughter, Ashlie was admitted to UCSF Medical Center on 3/31/14, and shortly after was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia called Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL). Ashlie still remains in the hospital going through chemotherapy arsenic treatments and ATRA (Vitamin A) treatments as of 4/11/2014. She will remain in the hospital until her white blood count reaches a level where she can safely go home, she will then need to come back to the hospital every day for 3-4 hours for her chemotherapy for 4 - 6 weeks until she is done with the remission induction therapy phase of her treatment. A two year maintenance phase of her treatment will start when she is done with 4-6 week phase.

Ashlie has been living and working in San Francisco for almost six years. She recently left her job and went back to Grad School in January 2014. At the end of February this year Ashlie felt very sick and went to Urgent Care where she was tested for strep throat and the flu - both tests came back negative and she was told she had a viral infection. She went back to Urgent Care a week later and was still told it was a viral infection. She was very sick for about three weeks and then felt a little better for about five days. She was interviewing throughout the month of March and was offered a job which she started on 3/31/2014. She worked at this job for 2 hours, then had to go to the ER and was immediately admitted into the hospital. We do not expect her new employer to hold her job for her and she is not going to be able to work for probably 3-4 months. She also had to put finishing grad school on hold.

I am reaching out to my friends and family and asking for your financial support for Ashlie. This is a very hard thing for me to do and also very hard for Ashlie to ask for any financial assistance but she really needs help. She needs to stay in San Francisco for her treatment because once she is released from the hospital she will not be allowed to leave her home, use public transportation, go to any public places or most importantly, work. Also, UCSF is one of the best leukemia hospitals in the nation with a 97% survival rate with the treatments they use for APL, and the hospital is very close to her home. Ashlie needs financial assistance to help with rent, daily expenses and medical bills. We are hoping that once she is released from the hospital she will be back on her feet in 3 months or so and then be able to look for another job. The important thing is that Ashlie can focus on her health and getting better instead of having to worry about looking for a job as soon as her remission induction phase of the treatment is over.

We feel very optimistic about Ashlie's recovery and the doctors assure us that APL is the most treatable form of leukemia. Once Ashlie is released from the hospital, and she completes the remission induction phase of her treatment (4 to 6 weeks), she will then be in the maintenance phase of her treatment. The maintenance phase is for two years, and Ashlie will still need to return to the hospital every two months for chemotherapy arsenic treatments. If Ashlie's blood tests remain stable after 5 years she will be considered cured!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers, emails, texts, and your support. It makes it so much easier for our family to go through this challenge with all of the support of our family and friends.