As many of you have heard, Michael and Kelly's lives have radically changed. In early November, Michael and Kelly noticed their 14-month-old daughter, Anna, was becoming lethargic and seemed to have labored breathing. They decided to take her to urgent care in town. The doctor there admitted that he was taking his time with them, wanting to observe her a bit longer. Her oxygen level dropped just enough while they were there that he recommended a trip to the ER.

They packed up the kids to go to Kelly's parents' house while they took Anna to Concord Hospital. They observed her and decided to admit her for the night. Her breathing continued to decline, and they put her on oxygen support.

Late in the night, the doctor decided to order a chest x-ray. Immediately, he saw that it was abnormal, and his first guess was that she may have an enlarged heart due to fluid buildup around it. He called Dartmouth, and they advised him to call Boston.

While they were transported down to Boston in an ambulance, Anna's lab results from Concord came in. The doctors in Boston discovered another possibility, that Anna might have a mass in her chest. Upon further testing, the diagnosis of lymphoblastic leukemia was confirmed.

Anna has been in the ICU at Boston Children's Hospital ever since.

Phase 1A will continue her 4 weeks of inpatient treatment; Phase 1B will be 6 weeks of outpatient treatment. They will check for remission at the end of each, hopefully reaching it by the end of the 10 weeks. Additional treatments are anticipated for about 2 years beyond the first remission.

The Hlushuks know that God is faithful to provide what they need for each step in this difficult, unknown journey. While they hate to watch their baby suffer, and they know that their life has become much more stressful, they pray that He would be glorified through this.

Through all this, the grandparents have been caring for their other children. Michael has been traveling back and forth from Boston, and Kelly has been caring for Anna full-time in Boston. As you can imagine, expenses have piled up as they have been putting wear and tear on their car, gasoline expenses, and Michael has been unable to work very much as he travels back and forth. We are fundraising to help cover these mounting expenses and support their family during this challenging time.