Most recent update: Ray has passed away on 6/3/2022 at Vinmec Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. We have cancelled bone marrow donor search and will use the rest of gofundme donation for Ray’s funeral. Thank you for all of your support! 

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Hi, My name is Nhi Vo-Lextrait. I’m creating this page for my nephew, Ray Ho. Ray’s mother is my cousin, her name is Phuong Le. Ray is 2.5 years old, born in Nha Trang, Vietnam. He was recently diagnosed with Leukemia in March 2022. In November 2021, Phuong noticed Ray had developed mild abdominal enlargement. She took him to the doctor, they noticed he had enlarged liver and spleen on ultrasound. His blood test was fine so they sent him home for monitoring. But since then, Ray did not gain any weight or height, his abdomen was getting bigger, following with increased fatigue, pale and loss of appetite. 

 In March 2022, she decided to take Ray to Children General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. On assessment, he was pale with marked hepatosplenomegaly. He was severely anemic, had a significant leucocytosis and thrombocytopenic. He was transferred to Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City. The doctors found immature neutrophils and an increase in myelomonocytic cells. Finally, he was diagnosed with Juvenilell Myelomonocytic Leukemia on March 28, 2022.

 The doctors have explained the only known successful treatment for JMML is bone marrow transplantation (hematopoietic stem cell transplantation). Ray may also be treated with chemotherapy prior to a bone marrow transplant. 

Here is the THREE steps of JMML treatments:

Step 1: Ray will need to find a matching bone marrow donor 

 Step 2: Ray will do bone marrow transplantation surgery 

Step 3: Ray will need to recover from the surgery without complications

In May 2022, the doctors will start with step 1. Ray will be tested for Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) markers matching. The HLA matching report will be sent to TzuChi Bone Marrow Bank in TAIWAN to find donor. For every medical screening of donor, it costs about $600/person. This can take as many months and many donors to find the best matching donor. Phuong is totally uncertain of how long it could take to find Ray's donor. It can be weeks, months, or years. 

 IF we can find a donor, the donor's stem cells will be transported from Taiwan to Vietnam. This will cost about $16,000. 

 IF the doctors have the donor's stem cells successfully, and Ray's health status is good, they will proceed Ray's bone marrow transplantation surgery. Chemotherapy may be needed for Ray prior surgery. The surgery alone costs about $100,000. Chemotherapy can cost up to $50,000. The costs are extremely expensive for her family and they are unable to afford to pay for his medical bills. Therefore, I am creating this page to find help for my nephew. I am looking for funds or donations from family, friends or anyone to help Ray paying his medical treatments to find bone marrow donor and to cure his leukemia. 

We want to raise the first $30000 for bone marrow searching baseline.

We may need to raise up to $100,000 for the surgery later. 

Thank you for all of your support! 

Nhi Vo-Lextrait

On behalf of Phuong Le (Ray’s mom)