Raise Funds for Octavia and the Schlegel Family

Hello, my name is Wendy and I work with Jennifer Schlegel, Octavia's mother. We are holding this fundraiser to raise money to assist in support and care for the Schlegel family, as their 1-year-old daughter Octavia has recently been diagnosed with Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia just before her fist birthday.

Jennifer had provided some background into what Octavia and the family have been dealing with, and the current outlook. Please see below:

"Octavia has been sick for 2 months. She had abnormal blood test results and we were going to repeat the bloodwork, but then she kept getting sick so we kept pushing it off. We were continuously getting dismissed by the doctors when we would raise new concerns because everything kept pointing to an infection of some sort and they wouldn’t see the whole picture and only focused on the symptoms in the moment.

We brought Octavia to the ER three weeks ago since she stopped walking, but we were mocked, dismissed and sent home. We took her back to the doctor the next week, where her pediatrician immediately told us to bring her to Albany to get checked out again. She was admitted into the hospital and got the diagnosis of Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Since the diagnosis, Octavia has had surgery for a port placement, a spinal tap, chemo in her spine, and a bone marrow aspiration. Luckily, the spinal tap showed no cancer cells in her spine or brain, and we’re waiting for the marrow results to show if she has the gene that could make her relapse easier.

We will be in the hospital for 5 weeks or more, depending on how treatment goes, undergoing surgeries, port placements, medications, and chemo. If Octavia doesn’t get better and go into remission we are looking at a possible bone marrow transplant. Even if she does go into remission, we are looking at 2 years of outpatient treatment… some can last a day, some can last a week, but this is something our family will be dealing with over the next 2 years at a minimum.

With having to be here for 5 or more weeks currently, she not only was admitted for her 1st birthday, but will be here for Thanksgiving as well ☹ Dad and I are living here since she needs constant attention because she is hooked up to all sorts of wires and if we aren’t here to help move her she gets tangled or will pull out her IVs/port which is really dangerous. This also means we haven’t been able to see our other two kids at all and will need someone to watch them, our house, 2 dogs, and cat while we tend to Octavia.

Since leukemia is a blood disorder, we found out that since Octavia developed this, she has been in constant pain. And since being admitted, she has stopped walking and is very weak. She is our Energizer Baby who has us constantly on our toes and was running around by 10 months old, and now she can’t even walk in a walker without crying out in pain. She’s gone through multiple ultrasounds, CT scans, and testing. She’s had the Hematology Oncology team visiting every day, Endocrinology for her thyroid levels being elevated, Cardiology for her EKGs, and now Nephrology for her possible dialysis. And with everything going on, she is retaining fluids too easily and it’s putting so much pressure on her body along with an enlarged liver and spleen from the build up of cancer cells, that she is having low heart rate and really high blood pressure which is also being monitored closely.

Despite EVERYTHING she is going through, she is still managing to win over the hearts of all the doctors, nurses, and techs here who come to see her and spend time with her infectious personality. She is such a freaking fighter and I am so proud of her ❤"

We are asking for donations to assist the family with funds to sustain their stay in the hospital with Octavia, as well as take care of the children and house while they cannot be there. We appreciate anything that you can spare to help, and it will all be going directly to the Schlegel family in this time of need. We will be submitting updates as we know more about Octavia's condition and outlook. Please keep baby Octavia and her family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate through this difficult time.