Drew Bernier family fund
Donation protected
This page was created to spread the news of a devastating situation for my five-year-old nephew, Drew Bernier, his mom (my sister), dad, and one-month-old baby sister Sophia. To say the least, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind for the Bernier family. In late February, two weeks after Marie and Josh welcomed their sweet daughter, Sophia, it was discovered that their son Drew, needed to have a bone marrow marrow transplant to be treated for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a fast spreading leukemia which is rarely found in children.
This all started with a rash on Drew's body that Marie and Josh wanted to get checked out before they brought Sophia home. It turned out that Drew did not have a rash - he was covered head-to-toe in petechiae. Countless tests revealed that Drew's white blood cells, red blood cells and blood platelets were all alarming low, and the cytogenetic test, the test that was done on his bone marrow, revealed that he is missing one of his number 7 chromosomes and because of that he is at a very high, predisposed risk of developing AML. He needs to have a transplant as soon as possible so he does not get full-fledged leukemia because it is very hard to treat in children and it is extremely fast acting once he develops it.
The search is on for a bone marrow donor in the international donor base and Drew will soon be going to Boston Children's Hospital to receive Chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. They've been told they can expect to be in Boston for 12-16 weeks.
As Marie will not be able to return to work and the family will be facing many hurdles in the coming months, we are trying to raise money to ease the financial burdens associated with not only the loss of Marie's income, but the ongoing expenses of health insurance premiums, frequent travel, food and lodging while in Boston.
Any money raised will go towards costs associated with Drew's treatment and recovery. Please donate, every little bit helps!
Thank you from the Elwell family!
This all started with a rash on Drew's body that Marie and Josh wanted to get checked out before they brought Sophia home. It turned out that Drew did not have a rash - he was covered head-to-toe in petechiae. Countless tests revealed that Drew's white blood cells, red blood cells and blood platelets were all alarming low, and the cytogenetic test, the test that was done on his bone marrow, revealed that he is missing one of his number 7 chromosomes and because of that he is at a very high, predisposed risk of developing AML. He needs to have a transplant as soon as possible so he does not get full-fledged leukemia because it is very hard to treat in children and it is extremely fast acting once he develops it.
The search is on for a bone marrow donor in the international donor base and Drew will soon be going to Boston Children's Hospital to receive Chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. They've been told they can expect to be in Boston for 12-16 weeks.
As Marie will not be able to return to work and the family will be facing many hurdles in the coming months, we are trying to raise money to ease the financial burdens associated with not only the loss of Marie's income, but the ongoing expenses of health insurance premiums, frequent travel, food and lodging while in Boston.
Any money raised will go towards costs associated with Drew's treatment and recovery. Please donate, every little bit helps!
Thank you from the Elwell family!
Organizer
Christine Elwell
Organizer
Barre, VT