Support Alyssa's Fight Against Leukemia

Many of you already know what Alyssa has been going through and have asked how you can help. Right now, we all feel a bit helpless and want to do something—anything—to support her. Below, Alyssa's sister Marianna, a nurse, has taken the time to describe what has happened over the past few weeks, what Alyssa has endured, and the long, difficult journey that lies ahead. We're starting this GoFundMe page in the hope that her loved ones can come together and contribute anything, no matter how small, to help her navigate the financial challenges this unfortunate situation will bring.

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Alyssa’s journey thus far, more updates to follow:

In the weeks leading up to Friday, August 2nd, Alyssa was feeling sick. A vague kind of sick that neither she nor anyone else could really put a finger on. Low-grade fevers, weakness, malaise, shortness of breath, muscle pains, some GI issues. A trip to Urgent Care didn’t produce any answers. It wasn’t until she got into a last-minute appointment with her primary care doctor for blood work on Thursday, August 1st that she was set on this path. 

On Friday, August 2nd at 1pm, her physician called her at work, told her to drop everything and drive to the hospital to ensure that she could be seen by the appropriate specialists. Her labs were extraordinary. Her white cell count was 20,000, her platelets were concerningly low, and her lactic acid was elevated. All that to say she had clinical indicators for cancer. On Saturday morning she was admitted and given a preliminary diagnosis of lymphoma. On Sunday morning she met with her oncologist for the first time and she was given a briefing on her specific diagnosis, and the path forward. Dr. Lin described that she had B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), an aggressive form of blood cancer in which her bone marrow overproduces immature ‘blast’ cells that crowd out the production of normal, healthy cells. ALL is not common in someone her age. It is more often seen in the very young and very old populations. As a result, her treatment regimen will have to be metered out based on how she tolerates each medication.

The first leg of treatment consists of 8, 21-day cycles. Each cycle consists of chemotherapy and built-in rest days. There are 4 ‘A’ Cycles and 4 ‘B’ Cycles. During A Cycles she will receive 6 different chemotherapy agents, 5 of which will be administered IV, one of which will be administered intrathecally (into her spinal fluid). During B Cycles she will receive an additional 2 other chemotherapeutics. These medications will suppress her immune system entirely, making her a huge risk for secondary infections/complications. She will require neutropenic precautions during the majority of her treatment. Hand hygiene, masking, and distancing are the tip of the iceberg.

As a result of this rigorous approach, Alyssa will be inpatient in the hospital for ⅓ of the coming year, and possibly ½ of the following year, depending on availability of a bone marrow donor. She will be unable to maintain a full-time job, and will be unable to provide the ~$1,400 of earned income each month she had historically been bringing in to put toward costs of living. This, in addition to expected medical bills, will be an unbelievable lift for her and her partner Zach. She absolutely hates the idea of being unable to work, and has started brainstorming a million ways she can make art to help make money during her recovery days. With that in mind, we are hoping to ask her friends and family to contribute whatever they’re able in order to make this transition a little bit easier. We can’t thank you enough for any small amount you’re able to give. 

Alyssa is an extraordinary human. She possesses an amount of kindness, empathy, and earnestness that is increasingly rare in this world. If you’re anything like me, you want to preserve and protect this at all costs. This will be a marathon. Months/years of sustained effort. She is going to need all of us on this journey. We can’t wait to celebrate her victories with all of you soon.