Making Miracles for Makeda
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My incredible 9 year old niece Makeda was just diagnosed with leukemia and our family needs your help! It was discovered on September 17, 2018 and the team at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri worked quickly to figure out the answers and create a plan. As of September 19, she had already received 2 blood transfusions, had a bone marrow biopsy, a spinal tap, and a procedure called a “port” to create easier access during her treatment. She will begin chemotherapy and the doctors are creating a 2 year plan for treatment. The type of leukemia has been identified as “ALL” or acute lymphocytic leukemia. Now while this is a more common type and has a high survival rate, this will by no means be “easy”. While the odds are definitely in her favor, this is going to be the most challenging experience any child will endure in their entire life, and the same can be said for the family. What began just a few days prior as a typical fever that kept coming and going, turned into any parent’s worst nightmare. Always trust your gut, and know that a “mother’s instinct” is very real and I praise her mom for not giving up and insisting on an answer as to why her daughter wasn’t feeling well after visiting multiple doctors.
I was blessed to have had a best friend since the day I was born and her name is Marissa. She is my sister, and she is an absolutely amazing person through and through. When my niece Makeda was born, I knew that little girl was destined for greatness. If her mother was one of the most patient, compassionate, creative, courageous women I had ever encountered, there was no way Makeda was going to be anything less than exceptional. My sister is literally a woman of many talents. She is someone that can seriously do anything she puts her mind and heart into (and she puts her entire heart into anything she does). She maintains a schedule and life balance that most people would find impossible, but she manages with grace, determination, and gratitude for life. She has been a dog groomer since I don’t even know when, and her love of animals is astounding. She donates her time, talent, and love to a local animal shelter whenever she can. She is supposed to be finishing her last semester this year at Fontbonne University, after years of tirelessly working towards her dreams. The complete and ultimate artist: she draws, paints, sculpts, builds, photographs, makes jewelry, creates graphic art, and the list could go on and on. I actually wish she was capable of writing this, because she is also a brilliant writer, and hopefully she won’t find too many mistakes when she finally gets the chance to read it. But none of those things mean anything when the most important part of her life is battling for her own life. Her daughter Makeda is not only her biggest motivation in staying so driven to build a beautiful life, but she is her biggest cheerleader (sometimes quite literally ).
Makeda is one of those kids that just lights up a room with her beauty and bright personality. She is the epitome of a girl: loves to sing and dance, loves fashion and to dress up, loves to be spoiled and pampered...but also fearless, more brave than anyone will ever know, and has more love to give in her little pinky finger than most have in their whole bodies. She has always been one to find the brighter side of a not so great situation, and gets everyone to feel a little better by her optimism.
There’s no doubt Makeda comes from a family of women that are resilient and independent, that can overcome any obstacle put in their way and still have a smile after it all. We know that she will beat this, and she will inspire everyone around her, but her family needs strength, hope, and love right now. As you can imagine, the financial struggles of being a single working mom that also attends school is already a lot to handle, without adding the extenuating circumstances of a cancer diagnosis. Right now, Makeda needs her mom to not worry about missing work to get to the doctor’s appointments, because she fears she won’t be able to pay rent, her car payment, her phone bill, etc. She needs her mom to not worry if she has to buy dinner out every now and then, because there will be minimal time and energy to be spent on grocery shopping and cooking. She needs her mom not to worry about the cost of gas from driving back and forth to the hospital, home, and different doctors. And most importantly, she doesn’t need her mom to stress about any new medical bill coming in that is from saving her life. All she needs is the financial burden of all this to just disappear so everyone can focus on her, to save strength for making sure she is the center of positive energy.
We need your help! I am asking you to please give anything you’re able to. While money is obviously the most practical way to help, prayers, positive energy, sharing this link, even an encouraging letter or note to make Makeda feel loved, ANYTHING will be truly appreciated and we will be beyond grateful. As strong as this family is, they will need every bit of help they can get in hopes of keeping Makeda healthy, happy, and hopeful.
It feels so surreal to write these words. I have always seen the commercials or heard through the grapevine of children fighting life-threatening illnesses, and it is something that I have never been able to comprehend. I have a hard time processing that a child would have to face such horrific circumstances, to be doing anything other than enjoying the amazing parts about being a kid. Now that I am a parent myself, I also fully see how a parent should never have to be in this situation. Being a parent is the most rewarding but also most difficult role anyone will ever have, and to add cancer to that mix is just not right. A parent should be laughing at their kid doing some new silly stunt, not forcing a smile or laugh so your child doesn’t realize how serious it all is. A parent should be having their eyes tear up from pride of an accomplishment, not from being so overwhelmed with emotion you just can’t hold it in. A parent should be frustrated at how slow their kid moves when rushing to get out of the house, not because they can’t understand “why me, why them.” Not this…not facing a scary and uncertain future while trying to hold it all together so your child can stay strong. I know that there is some reason this is happening to her, to them, to us, even if I can’t figure it out right now. Please keep our family in your hearts and thoughts, and we will do our best to keep you all informed of her progress. I cannot thank you enough.
My incredible 9 year old niece Makeda was just diagnosed with leukemia and our family needs your help! It was discovered on September 17, 2018 and the team at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri worked quickly to figure out the answers and create a plan. As of September 19, she had already received 2 blood transfusions, had a bone marrow biopsy, a spinal tap, and a procedure called a “port” to create easier access during her treatment. She will begin chemotherapy and the doctors are creating a 2 year plan for treatment. The type of leukemia has been identified as “ALL” or acute lymphocytic leukemia. Now while this is a more common type and has a high survival rate, this will by no means be “easy”. While the odds are definitely in her favor, this is going to be the most challenging experience any child will endure in their entire life, and the same can be said for the family. What began just a few days prior as a typical fever that kept coming and going, turned into any parent’s worst nightmare. Always trust your gut, and know that a “mother’s instinct” is very real and I praise her mom for not giving up and insisting on an answer as to why her daughter wasn’t feeling well after visiting multiple doctors. I was blessed to have had a best friend since the day I was born and her name is Marissa. She is my sister, and she is an absolutely amazing person through and through. When my niece Makeda was born, I knew that little girl was destined for greatness. If her mother was one of the most patient, compassionate, creative, courageous women I had ever encountered, there was no way Makeda was going to be anything less than exceptional. My sister is literally a woman of many talents. She is someone that can seriously do anything she puts her mind and heart into (and she puts her entire heart into anything she does). She maintains a schedule and life balance that most people would find impossible, but she manages with grace, determination, and gratitude for life. She has been a dog groomer since I don’t even know when, and her love of animals is astounding. She donates her time, talent, and love to a local animal shelter whenever she can. She is supposed to be finishing her last semester this year at Fontbonne University, after years of tirelessly working towards her dreams. The complete and ultimate artist: she draws, paints, sculpts, builds, photographs, makes jewelry, creates graphic art, and the list could go on and on. I actually wish she was capable of writing this, because she is also a brilliant writer, and hopefully she won’t find too many mistakes when she finally gets the chance to read it. But none of those things mean anything when the most important part of her life is battling for her own life. Her daughter Makeda is not only her biggest motivation in staying so driven to build a beautiful life, but she is her biggest cheerleader (sometimes quite literally ).
Makeda is one of those kids that just lights up a room with her beauty and bright personality. She is the epitome of a girl: loves to sing and dance, loves fashion and to dress up, loves to be spoiled and pampered...but also fearless, more brave than anyone will ever know, and has more love to give in her little pinky finger than most have in their whole bodies. She has always been one to find the brighter side of a not so great situation, and gets everyone to feel a little better by her optimism.
There’s no doubt Makeda comes from a family of women that are resilient and independent, that can overcome any obstacle put in their way and still have a smile after it all. We know that she will beat this, and she will inspire everyone around her, but her family needs strength, hope, and love right now. As you can imagine, the financial struggles of being a single working mom that also attends school is already a lot to handle, without adding the extenuating circumstances of a cancer diagnosis. Right now, Makeda needs her mom to not worry about missing work to get to the doctor’s appointments, because she fears she won’t be able to pay rent, her car payment, her phone bill, etc. She needs her mom to not worry if she has to buy dinner out every now and then, because there will be minimal time and energy to be spent on grocery shopping and cooking. She needs her mom not to worry about the cost of gas from driving back and forth to the hospital, home, and different doctors. And most importantly, she doesn’t need her mom to stress about any new medical bill coming in that is from saving her life. All she needs is the financial burden of all this to just disappear so everyone can focus on her, to save strength for making sure she is the center of positive energy.
We need your help! I am asking you to please give anything you’re able to. While money is obviously the most practical way to help, prayers, positive energy, sharing this link, even an encouraging letter or note to make Makeda feel loved, ANYTHING will be truly appreciated and we will be beyond grateful. As strong as this family is, they will need every bit of help they can get in hopes of keeping Makeda healthy, happy, and hopeful.
It feels so surreal to write these words. I have always seen the commercials or heard through the grapevine of children fighting life-threatening illnesses, and it is something that I have never been able to comprehend. I have a hard time processing that a child would have to face such horrific circumstances, to be doing anything other than enjoying the amazing parts about being a kid. Now that I am a parent myself, I also fully see how a parent should never have to be in this situation. Being a parent is the most rewarding but also most difficult role anyone will ever have, and to add cancer to that mix is just not right. A parent should be laughing at their kid doing some new silly stunt, not forcing a smile or laugh so your child doesn’t realize how serious it all is. A parent should be having their eyes tear up from pride of an accomplishment, not from being so overwhelmed with emotion you just can’t hold it in. A parent should be frustrated at how slow their kid moves when rushing to get out of the house, not because they can’t understand “why me, why them.” Not this…not facing a scary and uncertain future while trying to hold it all together so your child can stay strong. I know that there is some reason this is happening to her, to them, to us, even if I can’t figure it out right now. Please keep our family in your hearts and thoughts, and we will do our best to keep you all informed of her progress. I cannot thank you enough.
Organizer
Vanessa Weiss
Organizer
University City, MO