Brooklynne is an incredibly beautiful and sweet-spirited 5-year-old girl. Unfortunately, life has to this point dealt her a cruel blow.  At 16 months of age, Brooklynne was the youngest ever diagnosed with Still's disease, a type of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.  Still's is characterized by high-spiking fevers, a salmon colored rash and, most significantly, excruciating pain throughout her body, particularly her joints.  Extreme fatigue accompanies waves of high fevers of 104 degrees or more.  There is swelling of the lymph glands, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and sore throat.



Brooklynne lives in constant pain throughout her body at a level most would consider unfathomable, having been described by her doctors as pain equal to that of childbirth, yet without medication to counter the pain itself.  She has never known life without pain.  Often, Brooklynne can be "too sick for treatment", which then has to be canceled.  She has 72-hour "episodes" when she cannot keep anything down, including water.  She cannot even take her medications when this happens. She becomes very tired, very weak, cannot walk, and sleeps a great deal. During these episodes, she throws up what she tries to get down.  Still's also causes inflammation of and fluid buildup around the heart and lungs. Because of the medications she takes, Brooklynne's physical growth has been delayed and also causes swelling throughout her body.

Unfortunately, this disease is "too rare" to qualify for help from many organizations, including the United Way.  There is treatment for Brooklynne available at M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, but Brooklynne lives in Nebraska and much of the expense would not be covered by insurance.  Even now, there are substantial ongoing expenses which have caused great financial hardship for her parents.

This past week, Brooklynne has taken a turn for the worse and her kidneys and liver are not working as they should.  In fact, they are in danger of shutting down unless proper treatment is undertaken promptly.  It is imperative that Brooklynne travel to M. D. Anderson Hospital for treatment as soon as possible.



Despite her discomfort and severe pain, Brooklynne is a wonderfully happy child with a beautiful smile and always ready to give a hug.  Please help us fund Brooklynne's treatment so that she can live a full, productive and pain-free life.