Lea’s Leukemia Warriors

Welcome friends and family!

First off, thank you for visiting the page!

This page  has been created to support a wonderful daughter, mother, sister, friend: Estella "Lea" Murchison.

In September 2019, Lea suffered with a lingering cough. After weeks of trying to overcome it on her own, she finally visited an urgent care center, where she discovered it had developed into pneumonia. As her body worked to build itself up and fight off the infection, Lea grew more and more exhausted. Days later, she received news that her blood count seemed off. For the next three weeks, she endured back to back blood extractions and a barage of doctors, nurses, hemotologists, and specialists. On October 15th, our fears were confirmed when Lea's tests confirmed she has Acute Myeloid Leukemia  (AML), a cancer of the bone marrow and blood. 

Adult AML has two phases of treatment:

Phase 1 - Remission induction therapy: The goal is to kill the leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow. This puts the leukemia into remission. Lea began remission induction therapy on October 25th through chemotherapy. Upcoming bone marrow biopsies will incidate whether the chemotherapy is effective. Lea's ability to go home  is contingent upon remission (<5% of cancer cells in her blood) through chemotherapy.

Phase 2 - Post-remission therapy: This begins after the leukemia is in remission. The goal of post-remission therapy is to kill any remaining leukemia cells that may not be active but could begin to regrow and cause a relapse. This phase is also called remission continuation therapy. Once in remission, Lea could continue post-remission therapy, to include outpatient chemotherapy, one week per month moving forward from home.

Throughout this journey, Lea hasn't waivered in her spirit and zest for live; she's maintained her unique sense of humor, and we have no doubt she’ll overcome this challenge . In the meantime, we’d like to make sure she can focus on getting well  without any added stress.  This is where you can help!

What we’re asking for:

1. Financial Support
We’re asking all friends and families to help  in whatever way you can towards Lea’s medical expenses. Lea has been in the hospital since her diagnosis and isn’t working; she has no “nest egg” to draw from, as she’s only 23 years old. Her out of pocket maximim for each calendar year is $6,850, which is a substantial burden we can help lift.  In addition to this out of pocket limit, Lea will have extremely costly prescriptions moving forward. We realize many people live paycheck to paycheck and understand that $10 might be quite a sacrifice from your home, and we would be incredibly appreciative to receive it. If you’re more financially blessed and want to donate more, we appreciate that too. Every dollar will go towards Lea’s medical expenses.
**If other unexpected expenses come up, we’ll update this page and allow donors to decide how their contributions should be used.**

2. Blood donations
Lea has received a number of blood transfusions since being admitted to the hospital. Please help replenish the Vitalant blood bank  with your donation in “Estella Murchison’s” name (those LifeBlood folks treat you like a rock star ⭐️ too!)

3. Stem cell registry
Many leukemia patients require one or more stem cell transplants during the course of their treatment. Unfortunately matching tissue outside of immediate family members has a low likelihood. By registering at www.BeTheMatch.org,  you increase the likelihood that all luekemia patients find a match to provide healthy stem cells to fight the host's cancerous cells. Both you-and your stem cells-would be cancer warriors. Heroes, even! 

4. Cards, letters, good thoughts, vibes and prayers
Lea’s battle will be strenuous, and she will need all the positive encouragement she can get. Please send these her way regularly. For the snail-mail fans, cards are encouraged and welcomed and will brighten up her hospital room.  No plants or flowers, please. These may contain bacteria that would weaken her immune system.
***Please  comment or message this page for the address and room number.***

Thank you from the bottom  of our hearts for your support as Lea perseveres over this diagnosis. Let us all commit to demonstrate acts of love in Lea's name to prove that no one fights alone.