Help Lindsey + Family Fight Leukemia

On July 5, 2018 Lindsey was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia after 11 months of trying to determine what was going on with her unusual blood counts. The diagnosis was shocking and threw their family for a loop.

Lindsey immediately started on a general chemotherapy and then tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), which is a chemotherapy medication used specially for patients with CML. There are only a handful of TKIs available for CML and Lindsey has been on almost all of them over the last six months. Unfortunately they have not worked well for her. She is experiencing miserable side effects from these medications and is often too sick to function, and her blood counts are not improving like they had hoped. She is now looking at the possibility of a stem cell transplant, which would leave her hospitalized and then away from her family for months while the new cells engraft. During this time her immune system will be too fragile to be around her children, so she will need to stay away from them for several months while she recovers.

She has had to give up her side business that she ran to help supplement her husband’s income, who is a naval rescue swimmer. Her husband has had to take on the majority of the responsibility at home as well as with their two children, a four and a half year old girl and a one year old boy. 

On top of all of this, all of Lindsey’s care is at the Emily Couric Cancer Center at UVA in Charlottesville, VA. This is several hours from where they live, and they are having to pay out of pocket, sometimes several times a month, to travel there for her appointments. These trips cost money in gas, food, and lodging, on top of their expenses at home (mortgage, groceries, car payments, etc.). They are also having to pay out of pocket for certain medications, both for Lindsey and her children (one who has a bone marrow disease and the other who has pulmonary issues). Their families have been extremely supportive, and Lindsey and Nick have been hesitant to ask for help, but the expenses are adding up and their savings are running out. 

Anything you can do to help this family out would be so appreciated!