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Dana Lauderdale's MDS Diagnosis

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Hello everyone, my name is Cierra Stanford. I am organizing this fundraiser for my aunt, Dana Lauderdale, with the help of my mom, Cinnimon Stanford.

Dana has been recently diagnosed with MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome), or pre-leukemia. This is a form of blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow, where some cells do not grow as they should making it difficult for the body to function properly. Dana received this diagnosis in Midland, TX, in January 2023, and will be furthering her treatment plan with the expertise of the medical staff at MD Anderson renowned cancer center in Houston, TX in the beginning of February 2023.

As you all know, there are hundreds of miles between Stanton and Houston, TX. Dana's husband, Ricky, will be accompanying her as she will be allowed only one guest. They are expected to stay about 5 days for this first visit to be able to determine her level of treatment and further discuss her future medical plans. Insurance will take care of some, but not all, medical expenses. Money raised will go to bills including travel costs, hotel stays, food, as well as some home expenses that will continue on in Stanton for their family.

Dana and Ricky's children depend on their parents. They have a freshman in college, a high school senior, a junior high student, and an elementary student. With that being said, they are trying to ensure the kids can continue life as normally as possible despite this devastating news. Any and all donations will be more than appreciated, and even if you cannot donate, sharing means so much. Please keep this wonderful family in your prayers as they navigate through this rough journey. Lift Dana up and let her know how much we all love her. Updates will come as available so we can keep everyone as informed as possible.

*UPDATE 2/25/2023*
Since this GoFundMe has been created, Dana has met with a team of doctors in Houston at MD Anderson. After speaking with the medical professionals, we have learned that Dana is considered high risk and they want to start the treatment process as soon as possible. She will need a stem cell transplant to cure the MDS, as well as chemotherapy treatments. MD Anderson will be sending testing kits to her siblings to collect samples to see if they could possibly be a stem cell match for Dana's transplant. This will take about 2 weeks for all results to be received. Once Dana's complete results are in, the medical staff will then search their database for 100% matches as well. Due to family medical history, the doctor's team is thinking they might lean more towards an unrelated person in the database, but we will know more as results come in.

This is going to be an extremely lengthy process for Dana and her family over the next few months and the rest of this year.

Instead of inpatient chemotherapy, Dana will be taking the pill form. The MDA pharmacy will be starting her on that process soon which will include taking the pill for 5 consecutive days a month over the course of 2 to 3 months. Once that process starts, she will see her oncologist in Midland twice a week for bloodwork and to monitor how her body reacts to the chemotherapy. She will most likely need several blood transfusions because chemo will lower all her blood counts. She will be visiting Houston once a month to meet with her doctor and the medical staff at MDA for bloodwork, bone marrow biopsy, and continual monitoring of the chemo effects. In between all of those visits, she will also be seeing other doctors for scans, and meetings with the transplant team. As of now, the medical professionals are thinking the stem cell transplant will most likely occur in June of this year, but it will ultimately depend on how quickly and smoothly the entire process goes.

Weeks 1-2 after the donor match is found will be preliminary testing for the stem cell transplant donor and Dana.
Weeks 2-5 will be inpatient hard chemo in Houston where she will stay in the hospital for the month as the chemotherapy completely depletes her immune system and blood counts. (30+ days)
Following the hard chemo, the stem cell transplant will happen.
Once her blood counts are stabilized, Dana will be released to a 24/7 caregiver where she will stay in Houston to be monitored, this could take up to 3-4 months (Week 6-100+ days).
Week 6- 100+ days will be transplant recovery, monitoring, and testing.

This is an extremely intense procedure that will take several months of testing and monitoring. There will more than likely be bumps in the road to get the donated stem cells under control to function properly in her body.

*UPDATE 5/5/2023*
Dana & Ricky will be heading to Houston Monday, May 8th, & staying through October for the rest of Dana's treatment & recovery schedule.
Outpatient testing will start May 10th-12th.
A consent visit with Dr. Kebriaei on May 17th.
CVC placement May 18th.
Oral venetoclax will begin May 21st.
Outpatient chemo (Busulfan & PK labs) (12 hours in ATC) May 23rd.
Clinic visit with Dr. Kebriaei May 24th.
Another round of outpatient chemo (Busulfan) (3-4 hours in ATC) May 30th.
Donor collects May 30-31st.
Another clinic visit with Dr. Kebriaei May 31st.
Admission June 4th.
Inpatient chemo June 5th-11th.
Infusion (transplant) June 12th.

The road to recovery will be a long one, so please continue to keep the Lauderdale family in your prayers as they progress through this journey with Dana's health.

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    Organizer and beneficiary

    Cierra Stanford
    Organizer
    Stanton, TX
    Ricky Lauderdale
    Beneficiary

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