Coach Albright's family medical & support fund

 

Lianna (Coach Albright's daughter) and family are facing medical & financial match point,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After exhausting every possible resource and avenue to stay in “the game” the family now faces its greatest challenge. The combination of supporting their daughter’s chronic illnesses and recent cancer surgery + a recent job loss + Covid-19 shutdowns and hip replacement surgery, has landed them on defeats’ door. With all savings/retirement depleted they are no longer able to support Lianna’s medical needs, pay rent/monthly living expenses and pay down debt of over $125k from medical bills/travel/housing...

 

The summary below and attached slideshow tells a bit about Lianna’s journey.

 

“Lianna has always been the Zebra” said her mom, Chloe, after receiving yet another rare diagnosis from Lianna’s doctor.

Zebra: (An obscure illness, disease or condition affecting a comparatively small number of people, but with symptoms somewhat similar to one or more different and more common illnesses.) “Urban Dictionary”12.8.2010

 

Lianna is a sweet, smart and kind hearted kid who has been through medical $%&#. Her compassion and empathy was evident from the age of 4 when she expressed her plan to build a shelter for homeless people and homeless animals creating an educational setting to teach veterinary and life skills.

Before the Thyroid Cancer, though feeling unwell most of the time, she volunteered by reading to school aged kids in Spanish, going to retirement homes and advocating for peoples rights through correspondence. A true, caring friend and daughter with a witty sense of humor and a gentleness that will not kill a fly, spider….(literally won’t). She is also fluent in Spanish, had a 3.85 GPA and 1200 SAT score despite missing most of High School and repeated absences starting in grade school. Lianna is also a “Make-A-Wish” child referred from her doctor at Johns Hopkins which garnered her an invitation to the Washington Capitals event; Hockey Fights Cancer” which she was awed and honored to attend.

 

The Road less Traveled:

Up until about 10 years old Lianna was diagnosed with medical challenges such as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Celiac Disease, Sensory Processing Disorder and H-pylori. She had pain and discomfort but soldiered on the best she could. Then at age10 she was hit with Kawasaki’s Disease. After 8 days in the hospital and 2 IVIG infusions she started to recover from Kawasaki’s but still endured pain, fatigue, fevers and headaches. Then she had mononucleosis and pneumonia twice in the next two years. Going into 7th grade Coach Albright received a job opportunity in Lima, Peru. Her doctor’s cleared her to make the move but the “Zebra” surfaced again and within 2 months of arriving in Peru she was bedridden, suffering with pain, nausea, fatigue and blue lips.

The amazing Colegio Roosevelt Head of School, from Wisconsin, encouraged the family to take her to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN to get some answers.

 

Mom flew Lianna from Peru to Minnesota for a week long, multi-pronged medical work-up. The world class Mayo Hospital and Pediatric doctors ran multiple tests and as a group diagnosed her with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) which in 2014 was relatively unknown. “Zebra” again.

(The family spent 5 weeks in Rochester attending the Mayo Clinics’ Pediatric Pain and Rehab Center and other support Clinics).

 

The family moved back to the US for better medical support and Lianna was doing okay for about a year but then started to spiral again in her second semester of 9th grade. Her symptoms were so bad she eventually had to drop out of High School. Then, if that weren’t enough on Lianna, in 2018 she was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer and referred to Johns Hopkins. After a 6 hour surgery she had her cancerous thyroid, lymph nodes and some muscle successfully removed. The doctor and staff were incredibly skilled which reduces the chance of recurrence or spreading…

She continues to receive treatment for her POTS and other issues from Johns Hopkins and follow up appts. for her Thyroid Cancer.

 

All donations will go to Lianna's current and past medical expenses and support family living expenses.

 

The Make-A-Wish slides come from her invitation as a Wish child fighting Cancer to attend the Washington Capitals “Hockey Fights Cancer Event” in 2019 and the trip to Give Kids the World Village in Orlando with Disney and Universal Studios visits as a Wish child.

A huge family thank you to those angels of support in the previous years.

Her service dog “Athena” has been a godsend to the whole family.

 

 

With Gratitude and Thanks.