Howdy folks! Joni Ames, Julie's youngest sister and biggest fan here. I am sharing her story and the need we have found to help her along this Acute Myeloid Leukemia path she has found herself on. With the help of all of us, she will win this fight and be back on track to living the life she loves.

Julie was diagnosed this fall with AML. It was a shocker and a gut punch as she has been pretty healthy all her life. She does not know the "why" or "how" of getting this disease. It can just happen as a person ages. She just happened to draw the short straw. Currently she is undergoing infusion and oral chemotherapy and will need a bone marrow transplant in early 2026 at Loyola Hospital in Chicago.

The need for a fundraiser stem from the added costs of lodging in Chicago while in the 100-day recovery phase after the bone marrow transplant at Loyola Hospital. Julie has to be within a 45-minute drive to the hospital should she need care quickly. And when she is recovering after her month long stay at Loyola, she will be taken 2-3 times a week to their out-patient transplant center and monitored closely for anything she needs. Hydration, infections or blood transfusions are the biggest treatments they will keep a close eye on. Coupled with co-pays on almost every visit, setting up what will be needed at the short-term lodging for everyday living and eventually lost wages which could extend into months as Julie recovers.

The added costs are a bit overwhelming. The amount I am shooting for is not excessive and will be used to ease the burden and if I can make life a little bit easier this way, I, along with your help will do everything I can to get a woman that has given me and so many others so much of herself to make lives so much fuller.

So, I am humbling asking for you to lend a hand. I think of all the times she has sacrificed to make my dreams come true and I know she has many times done the same for others. She has touched and molded so many youths into adulthood and beyond. And she did it out of love and selflessness.

Now is the time we get to say, "Thank you" and "I Love You" in a way that will make a tremendous difference.

I have told her we will win this, but we need everyone's help. In word and deed, we can help.

She has been humbled by the outreach already of so many across the country. I think she is a bit surprised. I am not. We are all very appreciative of the help we have had so far and for the hands extended to her that are yet to come. Thank you!