I am super excited to be back fundraising again for Blood Cancer United (formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). The last time I fundraised for Blood Cancer United was for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride in Lake Tahoe in 2023. It's been a few years and I'm looking forward to raising money for a wonderful cause that is dear to my family's heart.
Most of you know our story. If you don't, here is a quick summary. Our oldest daughter Charlotte was born happy and healthy in 2016. She hit all of her milestones and was growing fast. Unfortunately, on May 31st, 2017, she and Kristin were in an ambulance to Lurie Children's Hospital in downtown Chicago. At 2am on June 1st, 2017 the oncologist fellow that was on call told us that our baby girl had blood cancer. High risk infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She was only 8 months old. For two and half years she bravely fought that disease. She suffered through double digit surgeries, dozens of blood and platelet transfusions, hundreds of rounds of chemotherapy, and too many needle pokes to count. Through it all, she had a fierce determination and finally, on June 7th, 2019, she rang the bell and beat cancer.
Today, Charlotte is a happy and healthy 9.5 year old. She loves swimming, dance, soccer, and the Chicago Bears. If you look at her now, you would have no idea of the journey she went through when she was just a baby.
There is a dark side though, one we have to always watch for as she grows up. Every spring, Charlotte returns to Lurie Children's Hospital for her annual check up. They perform x-rays of her hands, MRIs, cardiovascular testing and labs, all to monitor how her growth is and if any changes are occuring to her body as a result of the chemotherapy treatment protocol that cured her. On our first annual visit, the doctors gave us a booklet of all the side effects that we have to keep watch for that might pop up as a result of the chemo she received. You see, the treatment protocol that she was given, that helped her to beat cancer, was not designed for an 8 month old. It was designed and tested on adults and then modified to be used on Charlotte. This is not right. Children are not "small adults." They need more tailored treatments, specifically designed for kids. This is why we continue to fight and fundraise, so that future pediatric blood cancer patients can have a treatment protcol that is designed just for kids. Because kids are different. And every pedicatric blood cancer patient should not just survive, but THRIVE.
That is why I am fundraising today. Now through April 20th, I am raising funds specifically for Blood Cancer United's Dare to Dream Days. The funds I raise will go directly to Blood Cancer United's Dare to Dream Project. This is a bold and urgent $175 million campaign to transform treatment and care for kids with blood cancer. These funds will support global and collaborative research and treatments for children's blood cancers. It will also widen Blood Cancer United's range of free education, personalized support services, connection to financial assistance, and advocacy on behalf of all children and their families. These are all criticial to a childhood cancer patient's path to getting the best care, support, and treatment that is designed specifically for a child.
Please consider donating to my campaign. Any dollar amount is appreciated. Maybe the money you donate today will be the amount that is needed to end pediatric blood cancer forever. So that no child has to go through what Charlotte went through.
