6 month old Eli in his fight with leukemia

Eli is only 6 months old and was diagnosed with infant acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and his sub type is, Acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia (AMKL) with the gene inv(16) CBFA2T3-GLIS2. It is a very aggressive form that that does not have targeted treatment, making the chance for recovery very low. It is a very high risk form of cancer, especially in infants, that affects the blood and bone marrow. It is extremely rare with only about 20 cases in the entire United States each year, with about a 10% 5-year survival rate. The 5-year survival rate refers to the percentage of children who live at least 5 years after their leukemia is diagnosed. Children who are free of the disease after 5 years are very likely to have been cured, because it’s very rare for these cancers to return after this long.

Eli was diagnosed a week ago as a very high risk patient with a white blood cell count of 341,000! He has been through a lot already and is only in the beginning of about 10 months of chemotherapy treatments. He will also need a bone marrow transplant. He is a very strong boy, but is also very tired and weak. His doctor has a roadmap laid out for him that consists of the first cycle being 11 days of twice a day aggressive chemotherapy treatments, then moving to one week of treatments twice a day each month for 10 months. When he came in, he had a spinal tap and found cancer cells in his spinal fluids so he will also require chemotherapy spinal treatments once a week as well.

Eli is the cutest little boy who prior to getting leukemia always had a smile on his face and loved everyone around him. He is a joy to be around and doesn’t deserve to be going through what he is. His parents want to stay at the hospital next to the bedside with him as much as possible. They will need help with food, gas and medical expenses. Any donation no matter how big or small is greatly appreciated to assist in the difficult time. For those who can not assist financially please just keep him and his family in your thoughts & prayers! Sending all our love and Prayers their way!!

Please share this page with your family and friends! We know that we can get through this together!

Follow Eli’s Facebook page journey on his fight against leukemia!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095389180899&mibextid=LQQJ4d