Help Rachel's Fight Against Leukemia

Dear Friends,

It is with hopeful hearts that we are turning to our family & friends, humbly asking for help for our dear sister, Rachel Olson Jones. As many of you may be aware, Rachel and her little family have had a devastating year. Whether you know Rachel a lot or a little, you know that she is a very private person, which can make asking for help difficult. This is our plea on her behalf.

Earlier this year in March, Rachel's then-husband suffered a stroke, which left Rachel and her children emotionally and financially devastated. After losing their home and moving in with our mom, Rachel & the kids seemed to be finding their footing. Noah began his freshman year at LLCC, and Mia started her sophomore year at SHG. Rachel began a new position with the State of Illinois and things seemed to be looking up.

On November 4th, Rachel went to the ER thinking she had a simple ovarian cyst. She had been bleeding heavily & felt severely fatigued for a few days. She was wholly unprepared to receive a diagnosis of a rare and aggressive form of Acute Myeloid Leukemia in the ER and was immediately admitted for 28 days of induction chemotherapy. The hospital stay was grueling and included a trip to the ICU for a scary GI bleed.

While inpatient, genetic testing was completed and the results were less than ideal. Unfortunately, Rachel has a combination of genes that lend themselves to a likelihood of recurrence. Rachel needs a bone marrow transplant ASAP. We, her siblings, are all undergoing testing, and one of us should be her donor match. Because of the type of cancer and Rachel's genetic makeup, one bone marrow transplant will not be enough. Bone marrow transplants will require a 30-day inpatient stay at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where she is currently receiving outpatient chemotherapy five days a month.

Her age, overall health, and genetic makeup makes her a good candidate for a clinical trial and she is currently on the waitlist to be enrolled and give her the best chance at achieving remission. We think it will likely be February before she is able to receive her first bone marrow transplant. She may need more than one transplant before a spot opens up in the trial and she will need continuous chemo until that time. This will likely be a long journey.

Rachel is currently the sole provider for herself and her children and is currently on unpaid medical leave for at least the next 6 months. Our goal is to ease her financial burden so she can concentrate on healing without the stress of financial strain. These funds will help her throughout her week-long stays in St. Louis for chemotherapy, cover additional upcoming medical bills, and support Noah & Mia while she is on unpaid leave. If you cannot donate, we completely understand and ask that you leave some words of encouragement for Rachel and her family, below. Sharing this campaign and keeping Rachel's name in your thoughts and prayers means the world to us. Any way you can help is much appreciated.

Much love & peace,

The Olson Siblings

(Lance, Tricia, Eric & Krissy)