Hi Friends and Family! 

Welcome to our fundraising page :) This is Abba and Chelsea Kodiaga and we are sisters who attend Oakton High School in Oakton, Virginia. We are excited to participate in this year's Leukemia & Lympohma Society's campaingn to save lives. We are working to raise as much as possible over the next 7 weeks. Every dollar raised counts as one vote for our campaign. The candidate(s) whose team tallies the most votes earns the prestigious title of Student or Students of the Year. Will you help us earn that title?
 
As you know, everyone wins when cancer loses. Thanks to your support, our efforts will help fund therapies and treatments that are saving lives. Over the years, support from people like you has been responsible for the blood cancer advancements that have doubled, tripled, and in some cases quadrupled the survival rate for some blood cancers.
 
Many LLS-supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients but are also now used to treat patients with rare forms of stomach and skin cancers and are in clinical trials for patients with lung, brain, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers. And LLS-funded drugs like targeted therapies and immunotherapies are now saving thousands of lives every day.
 
We really are getting close to our goal of a world without blood cancers!
 
All donations are greatly appreciated and tax-deductible. They'll not only support LLS research, but patient services, advocacy, public and professional education, and community services as well.
 
Please visit our website often and tell friends who would also like to donate!
 
On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you for your support! For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org

This year we are raising money for our Honored Hero Alex Eissenstat. 

Alex is an active fourteen-year-old boy who is busy making up for lost time. He was born in Arlington, Virginia and lives with his parents and brother in Alexandria, Virginia. He attended George Washington Middle School, Alexandria Country Day School and will attend Mercersburg Academy this Fall as a freshman.

When Alex was just six years old, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The diagnosis, which came on Valentine’s Day, was a shock. Alex had been unusually tired and had small, fever spikes overall, but he looked and acted healthy. Fortunately, his pediatrician ordered bloodwork and insisted he see a hematologist just out of an abundance of caution. Less than twenty hours later, Alex had a medical port placed in his chest and began chemotherapy. He spent the next three and half years with this aggressive blood cancer. Those years were hard on Alex and his family. Alex spent many nights in the emergency room and even more nights in the hospital. His parents divided their time caring for Alex in his fragile condition and taking care of Alex’s brother, who has Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. 

The treatment years were especially difficult for Alex socially and emotionally. He had very little stamina or strength at a time when most little boys are playing hard and developing their skills on the ball field. While his friends played chase, ran the bases, tried out for soccer, and joined the swim team, Alex went to the clinic for treatment, spent time in the hospital or stayed quietly at home. His best friends during that time were his Lego and his favorite Harry Potter books. The years on treatment were difficult but so were the first few years after treatment. A small body ravaged by countless pills, high dose steroids, weekly and monthly infusions and quarterly spinal taps doesn’t rebound quickly. Even though Alex finished treatment in third grade, it took almost three more years for his body, mind, and spirit to begin to fully recover from the effects of chemotherapy.

Now that Alex is five years off treatment, he is finally able to do all the things he used to only dream of doing. He especially enjoys rock climbing and hopes to compete in high school. His great joy in life is bike riding. He rides with his friends almost every day. He loves to watch the Washington Nationals play baseball. He continues to have a passion for Legos and loves to collect the most complicated desisgns. He loves history, art, and reading. In his spare time, he advocates for increased funding for pediatric cancer research and the rights of people with disabilities.

As he enters his freshman year, he is looking forward to trying all the things he didn’t try when he was busy fighting cancer and he will be doing everything he can to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in their ongoing battle against bloodcancers.