My dear friend’s teenage daughter, Giuliana Sweat, was just diagnosed with Large Cell Tumor Rich Osteosarcoma this week. She will receive treatment at MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital in Charleston, which is a 3-hour drive from her home here in Little River, SC. Giuliana and her family will travel many trips out of pocket to accommodate the appointments, surgery, chemotherapy, and bone scans. Giuliana's treatment will be starting soon as her family is meeting with her oncologist, Dr. Anca Dumitriu, and her pediatric surgeon, Dr. Robert Cina, who will put a port in her chest for chemotherapy this week. Dr. J. Rodney Leddy is her oncology pediatric orthopedic surgeon who will remove the tumor from her leg once chemotherapy is completed.
In addition, we would like to purchase a new technology for cooling caps for her to put on her head during chemotherapy to prevent chemotherapy from reaching her hair cells to limit and prevent hair loss. These cooling caps are pricey at $1,700 for 4 caps and the bio freezer that comes with it.
Her mother, Amy, is taking FMLA leave from work but will only be paid for 5 weeks for this. Anything after that is unpaid. She is having to take all of her vacation time, and her employer is paying her for 2 weeks on company dime.
Giuliana is 13 years old and attends North Myrtle Beach Middle School. She is currently on homebound status for school. Her family appreciates any help you can give. This means a lot to her family.
Any help that you can give will help this family out dramatically. This family is facing a rough road ahead with this treatment plan, and we would like to take the financial burden off of them so they can focus on getting Giuliana better. As previously stated, MUSC is located downtown and the hotels are very expensive. We have applied many times to stay at one of the Cancer (i.e. Ronald McDonald home, ect.) homes for families to help save money on the out of pocket stays but no rooms have been open thus far.
Giuliana’s family needs financial support for this devastating diagnosis for traveling expenses, food, and things needed for Giuliana to help her through this treatment.