Help 4-year-old Donald kick cancer's butt!
Donation protected
Cause
One of my dear friends Nickell Morgan is the mother of Donald, who was diagnosed with high-risk, stage IV neuroblastoma (NB) in January 2020.
Please consider helping financially, big or small. Your generous contributions will help the Morgans with transportation and childcare, which are the two biggest expense categories. You can find a more detailed breakdown of costs towards the bottom of the page.
Background
Donald affectionately goes by “little” or “baby” D, an homage to this dad, Donald senior. Shortly after his 4th birthday around last Christmas, little D started having transient low-grade fevers. They went away with over-the-counter meds, and he remained his cheerful self – giving no cause for alarm. Then he began waking up in the middle of the night, crying in pain. While this may not be uncommon to parents with young children, Nickell felt something inside pulling at her to see the pediatrician.
Imagine the whirlwind over the next 14 days – being passed on to new specialists, undergoing multiple scans, hearing words like “metastatic spread”—when it was only just the other day, when little D was a happy, healthy boy.
NB is a rare cancer – 650 children in the U.S. are diagnosed every year. Among that, about half present with advanced stage disease like Donald. And even still, a very small percentage of this group have his tumor’s rare histology. His medical oncologist, with over 20 years of NB-focused practice under his belt, recollects only 4 cases like this in his career.
Today, he is an older brother to an 11-month-old sister Maya and a 5-minute-younger twin brother Ephraim. Over the next few days, the family will welcome a sixth member, a baby boy or girl who is yet to be named.
Cancer Journey
Donald has endured 2 rounds of high-dose chemotherapy, and there are 3 more to go…plus surgery, plus stem cell collection, plus radiation, plus immunotherapy. It’s a grueling marathon. And yet, he handles it all with more bravery than I could ever imagine and with a lightness that perhaps only a young child can muster in the face of cancer.
Thanks to medical advances, a child with this stage of disease has a 50% rate of cure. Even several years ago, these numbers would be much lower. But 50% is not nearly high enough when it’s your son, brother, or friend.
Donald, the father, works the graveyard shift at a newspaper distribution facility. Nickell is a part-time freelancer who works from home and usually looks after the 3 kiddos. But when little D is admitted to the hospital for chemo infusions or neutropenic fevers, the family needs a sitter during the nighttime, since Nickell must accompany her son and Dad’s at work.
When the body’s immune system has been obliterated by chemo, fevers are incredibly dangerous. Anytime he experiences a fever, the parents must drop everything and rush him from Staten Island to the Upper East within the hour. Their time spent in the hospital accounts for about 10-15 days of the 21-day cycle of chemotherapy. Nickell has been with her son day and night on the hospital’s humble daybed even while 7, 8, and now approaching 9 months pregnant.
The COVID-19 pandemic also adds an unprecedented stress during what are already unimaginably difficult times. Patients undergoing chemotherapy are among the most vulnerable populations, and baby D has recently been exposed to the virus. He is awaiting results in isolation.
I know this pandemic has touched every corner of the world, and so many people in our communities are also experiencing struggles. But even as we collectively share the burden of an uncertain future, I hope we can also, in solidarity, find ways to help others.
Please show your care and support for the lovely Morgans by contributing to this fund. Thank you all for taking the time to read.
Cost breakdown
Total goal: $13,280*
Calculation
Expected length of cancer treatment: 8 to 12+ months** (assuming 8 for calculation)
$13,280 / 8 mo = $1660 per month
- Transportation: 60%
- Subdivided into: Parking 30%, Tolls 15%, Gas 8%, Taxis 7%
- Childcare: 40%
Example of 1 cycle (approx 21 days) in February 2020 - 6 trips taken to Manhattan
- Transportation:
- Parking $400
- Tolls $175
- Gas $100
- Taxis $70
- Childcare: $500
Subtotal: $1,245 per cycle
*Please note: The bulk of Donald’s medical bills are covered under Medicaid. However, as you can see by the above, it’s surprising how quickly other expenses can add up.
In addition, there are always added costs in times of crisis. Families may choose takeout/prepared meals over home-cooked, there are medical supplies to be purchased for home, unexpected costs, etc. For transparency of the cost breakdown, we’ve only included the regular expenses that can be quantified.
**Treatment duration depends on response to therapy.
Bonus
P.S. For Kimmy Schmidt fans out there, you may have noticed little D bears a striking resemblance to baby Linda from Season 3 Episode 11. That’s right, baby Linda was actually a boy!
One of my dear friends Nickell Morgan is the mother of Donald, who was diagnosed with high-risk, stage IV neuroblastoma (NB) in January 2020.
Please consider helping financially, big or small. Your generous contributions will help the Morgans with transportation and childcare, which are the two biggest expense categories. You can find a more detailed breakdown of costs towards the bottom of the page.
Background
Donald affectionately goes by “little” or “baby” D, an homage to this dad, Donald senior. Shortly after his 4th birthday around last Christmas, little D started having transient low-grade fevers. They went away with over-the-counter meds, and he remained his cheerful self – giving no cause for alarm. Then he began waking up in the middle of the night, crying in pain. While this may not be uncommon to parents with young children, Nickell felt something inside pulling at her to see the pediatrician.
Imagine the whirlwind over the next 14 days – being passed on to new specialists, undergoing multiple scans, hearing words like “metastatic spread”—when it was only just the other day, when little D was a happy, healthy boy.
NB is a rare cancer – 650 children in the U.S. are diagnosed every year. Among that, about half present with advanced stage disease like Donald. And even still, a very small percentage of this group have his tumor’s rare histology. His medical oncologist, with over 20 years of NB-focused practice under his belt, recollects only 4 cases like this in his career.
Today, he is an older brother to an 11-month-old sister Maya and a 5-minute-younger twin brother Ephraim. Over the next few days, the family will welcome a sixth member, a baby boy or girl who is yet to be named.
Cancer Journey
Donald has endured 2 rounds of high-dose chemotherapy, and there are 3 more to go…plus surgery, plus stem cell collection, plus radiation, plus immunotherapy. It’s a grueling marathon. And yet, he handles it all with more bravery than I could ever imagine and with a lightness that perhaps only a young child can muster in the face of cancer.
Thanks to medical advances, a child with this stage of disease has a 50% rate of cure. Even several years ago, these numbers would be much lower. But 50% is not nearly high enough when it’s your son, brother, or friend.
Donald, the father, works the graveyard shift at a newspaper distribution facility. Nickell is a part-time freelancer who works from home and usually looks after the 3 kiddos. But when little D is admitted to the hospital for chemo infusions or neutropenic fevers, the family needs a sitter during the nighttime, since Nickell must accompany her son and Dad’s at work.
When the body’s immune system has been obliterated by chemo, fevers are incredibly dangerous. Anytime he experiences a fever, the parents must drop everything and rush him from Staten Island to the Upper East within the hour. Their time spent in the hospital accounts for about 10-15 days of the 21-day cycle of chemotherapy. Nickell has been with her son day and night on the hospital’s humble daybed even while 7, 8, and now approaching 9 months pregnant.
The COVID-19 pandemic also adds an unprecedented stress during what are already unimaginably difficult times. Patients undergoing chemotherapy are among the most vulnerable populations, and baby D has recently been exposed to the virus. He is awaiting results in isolation.
I know this pandemic has touched every corner of the world, and so many people in our communities are also experiencing struggles. But even as we collectively share the burden of an uncertain future, I hope we can also, in solidarity, find ways to help others.
Please show your care and support for the lovely Morgans by contributing to this fund. Thank you all for taking the time to read.
Cost breakdown
Total goal: $13,280*
Calculation
Expected length of cancer treatment: 8 to 12+ months** (assuming 8 for calculation)
$13,280 / 8 mo = $1660 per month
- Transportation: 60%
- Subdivided into: Parking 30%, Tolls 15%, Gas 8%, Taxis 7%
- Childcare: 40%
Example of 1 cycle (approx 21 days) in February 2020 - 6 trips taken to Manhattan
- Transportation:
- Parking $400
- Tolls $175
- Gas $100
- Taxis $70
- Childcare: $500
Subtotal: $1,245 per cycle
*Please note: The bulk of Donald’s medical bills are covered under Medicaid. However, as you can see by the above, it’s surprising how quickly other expenses can add up.
In addition, there are always added costs in times of crisis. Families may choose takeout/prepared meals over home-cooked, there are medical supplies to be purchased for home, unexpected costs, etc. For transparency of the cost breakdown, we’ve only included the regular expenses that can be quantified.
**Treatment duration depends on response to therapy.
Bonus
P.S. For Kimmy Schmidt fans out there, you may have noticed little D bears a striking resemblance to baby Linda from Season 3 Episode 11. That’s right, baby Linda was actually a boy!
Organizer and beneficiary
Jessica Cho
Organizer
New York, NY
Nickell Morgan
Beneficiary
