Help Ionna (15) Fight Leukemia: A Mother's Plea

A Mother’s Plea/Battle to Save Her Daughter from Leukemia

On October 18th, 2024, my world shattered when my beautiful, bright 14-year-old daughter, Ionna, was diagnosed with B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL)—an aggressive and painful blood cancer that attacks the bone marrow.

But even before that official diagnosis, something was terribly wrong.

In the weeks leading up to that day, I watched helplessly as my vibrant, active daughter went from walking confidently to not being able to stand at all. Within three weeks, she lost all ability to walk. She couldn’t hold a fork, sip water, or even sit up on her own. The pain in her bones, joints, and muscles was relentless—far beyond what any child should endure. Seeing her body shut down so quickly while she cried out in agony was a kind of heartbreak I cannot put into words.

B-cell ALL is a vicious disease, and it causes intense bone and nerve pain, fatigue, swelling, and an overwhelming sense of heaviness in the body. But that was only the beginning of her suffering.

Shortly after starting treatment, Ionna developed necrotizing pancreatitis—an extremely rare and excruciatingly painful condition where the pancreas begins to die and break itself down from the inside out. It’s one of the most painful conditions known in medicine. She screamed in pain, barely able to breathe or speak. Then, things escalated quickly—her organs began shutting down. She was airlifted to another hospital and placed on a ventilator in the ICU, sedated for weeks while her fragile body tried to survive. I sat at her bedside every single day, praying that she’d open her eyes again.

My younger daughter, Loah, just 13 years old, witnessed it all. She saw her big sister on life support, connected to wires and tubes, unmoving. The trauma etched into her young heart is something no child should ever experience.

After weeks of pain and stillness, Ionna finally began to wake up. But the road back was long. She had to relearn how to walk, how to eat, how to function. She fought through nerve pain, inflammation, weakness, and fear. She fought like the warrior she is.

After Ionna pulled through that critical phase, we hoped and prayed the worst was behind us. But despite countless rounds of chemotherapy and other experimental cancer treatments the cancer came back. We tried CAR T-cell therapy, one of the most advanced treatments available. It gave us hope. But her battle wasn’t over.

Now, we’ve reached the most critical part of her journey: a bone marrow transplant. By God’s grace, I am a match—and I will be donating my bone marrow to give my daughter the chance to live.

Just when we thought we were nearing a turning point, we received devastating news last week: Ionna has relapsed again. This time, leukemia cells have shown up dangerously close to her heart. Because of this, doctors have had to postpone her scheduled bone marrow transplant and immediately move forward with another CAR T-cell therapy—an intensive treatment where her own immune cells are engineered to recognize and destroy the leukemia cells.

Following the CAR T-cell therapy, Ionna will go into bone marrow transplant, and I will still be her donor. As her mother, I’m honored to give her this chance at life, but I’m also terrified. These treatments are aggressive, risky, and will leave her severely immunocompromised.

Because of the high-risk nature of these procedures, Ionna will be hospitalized continuously for approximately six months, and I need to be with her every single step of the way. I won’t be able to work during this time, and I’m already drowning in bills and the overwhelming cost of simply surviving while trying to hold our lives together.

I will be living in the hospital with her as she recovers. Her immune system will be completely wiped out, and she’ll need 24/7 care and protection from infections, pain, and complications. I will be her nurse, her mother, her comfort, her constant.

This isn’t easy to ask—but I am in dire need of financial support. Your donation, no matter the amount, will help us cover the costs of living, medical-related expenses, and allow me to be present for my daughter through the most critical chapter of her life.

Since October, I’ve missed so much work to be with her through emergencies, ICU stays, and long hospital nights. Their biological father has not provided any financial support in many years, leaving me to fight this battle on my own. As a single mother doing everything I can, I am now struggling to keep us afloat. The bills don’t stop, even when life does. Rent, utilities, groceries, hospital meals, parking, transportation—it’s all piling up.

The Second Car T cell transplant is scheduled for July 26,2025

I need HELP!

To keep a roof over our heads.

To keep food on the table for Loah, who needs security while her sister fights for her life.

To allow me to stay present with Ionna without the weight of financial fear.

To give my daughter the best possible chance at healing.

If you are able to give, no amount is too small. Every donation will go toward helping us survive this chapter. If you can’t give, please share this story. And if you believe in prayer, we’ll take those too—every single one.

From the deepest part of my heart: thank you. Thank you for standing with us, for believing in my girls, and for giving us the strength to keep going. I know healing is coming—I just need a little help getting us there.

With love, hope, and fierce faith,

Jawanna

Mama to Ionna & Loah

Bone marrow donor. Warrior. Grateful beyond words.