On March 20, 2026, our lives changed forever when my sister, Michaela Granado, was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML).
While a cancer diagnosis is a heavy weight to carry, anyone who knows Michaela knows she doesn't back down. We are fully confident she will fight this with the same incredible spunk and grit she’s shown through every other obstacle in her life.
We have set up this fund to help ease the burden of her mounting medical expenses so she can focus entirely on her health and recovery. Like many of us, Michaela chose a high-deductible insurance plan—because who ever expects a diagnosis like this when they’re signing up for coverage?
These unexpected out-of-pocket costs are already adding up, but with your help, we can make sure Michaela's only job is getting better. You can read more about her journey and how she’s tackling this head-on below and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/michaela.granado .
We appreciate every bit of love, support, and prayer sent her way. No donation is too small, and every share of this page helps more than you know. Thank you for standing with Michaela.
Michaela's story in her words:
On March 19, I received blood work results that were completely out of range (my white blood cell count was 105.9—“normal” range is between 6-11) and I had an ultrasound for what I thought was a mass in my stomach (dramatic, I know, but did you expect anything less from me?). After sharing these results with my sister, my niece, who is a nurse practitioner, urged me to go to the ER despite letting her know how much an ER visit would be (I never thought I’d miss having AHCCCS lol). At St. Joseph's, they quickly performed a CT scan and discovered that what I thought was a mass was actually my spleen, nearly twice the size of my liver (which apparently is not okay). They started me on oral chemotherapy and transferred me to Banner Gateway for its top oncology team associated with MD Anderson Cancer Center.
On March 20, doctors confirmed I had leukemia based on my blood work alone, which showed a 4% blast cell count (if that’s how you say it?). They performed a bone marrow biopsy to differentiate between Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). The doctors were 95% confident it was CML but needed final confirmation from the biopsy. They reassured me they would not discharge me if they weren’t confident it was CML.
On Tuesday, March 24, at my follow-up appointment, my hematologist confirmed it was Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (which is the BEST CASE scenario—if that's a thing with cancer?). We discussed which TKI treatment to start, chemotherapy specifically targeted to my gene mutation found within the bone marrow. They also explained that another bone marrow biopsy would be done on Friday to determine which phase my leukemia was in (I asked to be put under this time because it not only hurt but felt so weird—10000% not a fan). There are three phases: Chronic, Accelerated, and Blast. My doctor assured me they would be surprised if it were anything other than the Chronic phase.
✨Update✨ on April 10th
I had a second opinion done at the Mayo Clinic and although it wasn’t the best news, I left there feeling SO confident that God had me exactly where He wanted me to be. Mayo was able to confirm that it’s Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML—which we knew) but that it’s in phase 2—accelerated phase… so CML-AP. They also confirmed that I have the gene mutation for AML and am considered high risk. If my CML isn’t well controlled, it can become AML fairly quickly. Which basically means I will be on some sort of chemo for the rest of my life. They said if it had come back as phase 1: chronic phase (which the other provider said they were highly confident that it would), then there would be a possibility of it going into remission, and I wouldn’t need to take it anymore. But since I’m Phase 2 (for now ), I’ll be on something for the rest of my life.
I also have another gene mutation called MPL that has caused moderate myelofibrosis—scar tissue to build up in the bone marrow, which can also lead to a rare blood cancer if not monitored closely. So with all those fun gene mutant ninja turtles in there, it causes more barriers and there is a real possibility that my body may not respond to the TKI treatments like they would like . So they will monitor me for the next 3, 6, and 9 month markers and if I’m not meeting my milestones then we have to talk about having a bone marrow transplant.