Charlotte’s leukemia battle

Hi, my name is Heather, I’m fundraising for my daughter, Charlotte.

Hello to everyone who is following Charlotte’s battle against leukemia.

For those of you that don’t know anything about Charlotte, she is the first child and the first grandbaby on both sides of the family and is only 5 months old. Needless to say, she is adored and the most beautiful and precious thing that has ever happened to me and Riley.

About 3 weeks ago is when we noticed some things were a little off. She showed symptoms of vomiting, weird colored stool, distended belly, increased fussiness, and increased lethargy. after symptoms starting becoming alarming, we took her to her Dr. last Wednesday. From there they’ve sent us to the ER in Marshall, who then sent us in an ambulance to the Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls.

Blood tests and ultrasounds showed that Charlotte’s liver and spleen were greatly enlarged, causing her belly to be so distended. Her hemoglobin and blood platelets were so low that she also needed a blood transfusion.

Within a couple days of being In the hospital, her symptoms have been getting much worse and very fast. Her liver has gotten so large that it has taken up most of the space in her abdomen, causing her to not be able to eat, and fighting hard just to breath.

After waiting and waiting for biopsy results to come back, it was finally confirmed that Charlotte has Acute Myeloid Leukemia. This news had Riley and I down on our knees and completely defeated. There was nothing that we’ve done that could have prevented this. Apparently it’s just one of those things that happens to be “bad luck” as the Dr.’s say.

The plan now is to get Charlotte started on chemotherapy and keep a close eye on her while she stays in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit).

Thank you so much for the prayers and to all of the support we have been getting while she goes through this extremely difficult time.

The money donated will help with medical bills, food, gas, and help with bills at home so we don’t get too far behind. Anything would be appreciated through this heartbreaking time.