I am fundraising for my daughter, Izzy, who was just diagnosed with a rare illness called Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. We were in Washington State just about to make our way back home to Alaska when Izzy discovered a lump on her head. We went to the urgent care not expecting anything too serious as Izzy was feeling fine. She was given an ultrasound and told to expect results in a day. When the results came back they told us we needed to head to a major children's hospital as soon as possible. Soon afterwards, Izzy and I were on a plane back down the lower 48 heading to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego for diagnosis. After almost a week in the hospital we received a diagnosis and a treatment plan for a relatively rare illness. LCH is a cancer-like illness, in Izzy's case it has caused damage to her skull bone and because of the difficult location it cannot be treated surgically. Izzy will undergo a year of chemotherapy under the care of doctors at Rady Children’s Hospital to treat the spot in her head and make sure that her illness does not spread to other areas of her body.

This combination of having to go through a year of Chemo and moving has enormous financial implications for our family. We did not have health insurance when this began, we are searching for housing in San Diego and our only vehicle and all of our possessions are on an island in Alaska. Right now our family is split between two places; Izzy and I are in San Diego trying to set up a new household while my husband John is running our business by himself with the other two kids. Izzy begins her chemotherapy next week, on April 2nd. Our goal is to secure housing for a year, buy a car and then bring the other two kids down to San Diego so that Izzy can have a stable home environment and have her siblings to support her as she goes through this challenging year.

Any support would go a long way in creating a stable place for Izzy to heal.