Sandy strong

My story

Hi my name is Annette, I am Sandy’s younger sister. I am trying to help my sister raise money for travel, medical and living expenses. She has been diagnosed with AML leukemia and has been through a lot of chemotherapy treatment as well as a stem cell replacement. I am her donor, and I am looking to help her with her expenses.

She lives in Granger, Indiana. Her oncologist has referred her to a specialist in Indianapolis, Indiana; which is a 3 hour drive from Granger. She has spent a lot of money on travel expenses and medical bills are beginning to build up; here is her story .

On May 29th she just was not feeling well, and found a lump on the side of her neck. She went to her family doctor on Monday June 1st. The doctor said her salivary glands are swollen and prescribed an antibiotic. 6 days later she was still feeling very sick and ended up in the ER. During the ER visit she was diagnosed with diverticulitis, but the lump on the side of her neck had gone away. They admitted her for treatment, she was in the hospital for 8 days. While she was in the hospital her blood count numbers seemed to be going down every day. She ended up needing a blood transfusion because her hemoglobin was too low. They called in an oncologist and he wanted to perform a bone marrow biopsy. Around 4 days later the results came in and she was diagnosed CMML (Leukemia). She ended up back in the hospital for another eight days and received many blood and platelet transfusions. She had at least 7 blood transfusions before she was able to get to Indianapolis to see a specialist. During this time she also developed some type of infection that was burning her skin; Doctors did not know what it was.

Monday July 17th, she had her first appointment in Indianapolis to see a stem cell specialist. He told her she had something called Sweet Syndrome and that was the infection that she had on her arm. It was also decided they would move forward with starting the process of Stem Cell Transplant. Wednesday of that week she went to see her local oncologist for a follow-up and was told she needed to report to Indianapolis on Friday July 21st to meet with a Leukemia specialist and to start some heavy duty chemo therapy treatments. At this appointment she learned her Leukemia had progressed from CMML to AML which required much more chemo therapy treatments before the stem cell transplant could take place.

She was in the Indianapolis Cancer Hospital the whole month of August. Before leaving the hospital they did another bone marrow biopsy which the results showed she still had 1% of the AML in her blood. She had to go back to the hospital September 6th for 6 more days of chemotherapy. Two weeks after that chemotherapy session she had another bone marrow biopsy, which came back clear and they said she was in remission.

At this point, she was told it was time to start looking for a stem cell donor. They asked about siblings. She has two sisters myself and an older sister. They said we would like to test both of us. Also, they wanted to test her son. Her son came back at 50% match her older sister was a 50% match, but I was a 100% match. My sister and I both had to go through some more testing which took place in Indianapolis as well. Testing came back fine for both of us so the Stem Cell Transplant could proceed. Sandy was told to report to Indianapolis on October 27th where she would receive five days of chemo and some radiation before her stem cell transplant. I went to Indianapolis on November 1st to prepare for stem cell harvesting. On November 2nd Sandy went through the transplant process and received my stem cells. Stem cell transplant is the only treatment for AML and is the only chance at saving her life.

In the middle of all of this Sandy was on short term disability from work which was only 60% of her paycheck and that ended in September. She was put on FMLA, 12 week unpaid time . She was told if she didn't come back to work after the 12 weeks FMLA time she would be terminated. Sandy was terminated from her job on November 10th and lost her insurance on November 30th. Sandy has continued her insurance through the COBRA option, which is very expensive.

I’m happy to say that Sandy was discharged from the hospital on November 23rd just in time for Thanksgiving. She had to stay in the Indianapolis area for 3-4 weeks post transplant so she could be close to her doctor. She stayed in an apartment where family members were able to help care for her. Sandy was released on December 11th and was able to come home on December 12th. She was very happy to be home especially in time for the holidays. However, she still has to make weekly trips to Indianapolis to see the doctors down there. These weekly appointments will take place for the next several months.

Thank you for reading the story of my sister Sandy. If there is anyway that any of you can help my sister get through this rough time it would be greatly appreciated. I know we have just gone through the holidays and it is hard for everyone but every little bit helps. Thank you again,

Annette