Laura's AML Journey

At 31 weeks pregnant with her daughter Isla, Laura was unexpectedly diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML).

A quick decision was made to deliver Isla early, so that Laura could commence chemotherapy. Their beautiful baby bubble was encapsulated with Laura’s AML diagnosis, and a number of medical interventions including, a bone marrow biopsy, CT scan, a PICC line, multiple transfusions and chemotherapy.

During Laura’s long road to recovery, Stephen will have to juggle Laura’s treatment and caring for their 3 beautiful children.

The money raised from this GoFundMe will help them with all those unexpected expenditures that they will incur on their journey. We want to help them focus on Laura’s recovery and ease any financial burdens they may encounter.

Laura is currently undergoing intense chemotherapy and tiny baby Isla is still in hospital until she is strong enough to go home.

AML is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. It is characterised by an overproduction of myeloblasts (immature white blood cells). The myeloblasts overwhelm the bone marrow and prevent it from making normal blood cells. They can also spill out into the blood stream and circulate around the body. Immature white blood cells are unable to function properly to prevent or fight infection. Inadequate numbers of red blood cells are not able to be made by the bone marrow, and this causes anaemia, bleeding, and bruising.

https://www.leukaemia.org.au/blood-cancer-information/types-of-blood-cancer/leukaemia/

In Australia, every 40 minutes a person is diagnosed with Leukaemia. A bone marrow or hemopoietic stem cell transplant is the only possibility of a cure for many of these people. If you join the registry, there is a chance that you could be matched with someone who needs your stem cells to survive.

https://strengthtogive.org.au/how-donation-works/