Claudette Findlay is our one in a million 22-year-old au pair from South Africa who is in her second year with our crazy family.  She works incredibly hard anticipating every need of our five children and being a great friend to them, a dog whisperer to our two dogs,  and a treasured member of our family.  She has gone above and beyond to help us get through medical treatment for our daughter Lisette that required many months out of the state and country.  

Now it’s our turn to take care of her.  Quite suddenly, Claudette became progressively ill over the course of Easter weekend.  Late Easter evening, she was rushed to the ER. After extensive testing and multiple hospital transfers, she was given the official diagnosis of T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL) and admitted to the hospital for intense inpatient chemotherapy among other treatments. 

What is T-ALL?
ALL Overview & Video
 -a systemic bone marrow/blood cancer with characteristics of lymphoma
-very aggressive, fatal within months if not treated
-ALL is not categorized in stages, as it is systemic by the time  of diagnosis
-curable with state-of-the-art treatment that lasts 1-2 years with inpatient and outpatient/clinic care.
-a long, hard battle—the patient needs to stay close to the treatment facility for the full duration of treatment.

Since Claudette is in the USA as an au pair on a visa, her work insurance will only help pay for the first couple months, while her doctors estimate that she will need treatment for 2 years.  This therapy is also ONLY available at state-of-the-art teaching hospitals like UCSF.  She has no natural family here in the states to help her.  None of the housing or family support will be paid for from here on out.  

We would love to help Claudette beat T-ALL and get cured, time is of the essence, and we are humbly seeking the funds to enable her to complete the full treatment she needs.
With grateful hearts,
Tom, Margie, Lisette, Clare, Annalise, Zachary, & Josie Jones