EllaMae Richard

On Tuesday, February 15, 2018 at 9:13 in the morning Kayla & Devin Richard had a beautiful baby girl. EllaMae Alyse Richard, weighing 7lb 2oz, 20.5 inches long. Upon her entrance she came out breathing, kicking & screaming, but Dr. Ashton noticed a rash covering her body. This was diagnosed as the “blueberry muffin rash.” Kayla was able to take a quick peak at her while lying on the table waiting to be stitched up. After that she was taken to the nursery for test. Dr. Ashton was very concerned about the rash and wanted to get to the bottom on what was causing it. The same day around 6:00 in the afternoon, they decided to send her to Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge NICU for further testing. EllaMae spent the first week of her life there in the NICU. She went through numerous tests to try to find out if the spots were caused by infections. Those tests all came back negative. While usually it would be wonderful the tests were all coming back negative, it left one horrible answer to remain. The last day in the NICU the Dr. decided to run a biopsy on one of the spots and let them take her home. They were told it would take 2 weeks for the results on the biopsy and scheduled a follow-up appointment. Although they were very excited to finally take their sweet baby home, they were anxious to get answers. About two days later they received a call that was unforgettable. They were told to pack bags and head over to be admitted to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital because of abnormalities from the biopsy. Those abnormalities brought up cancer cells that lead to the Dr. diagnosing EllaMae with Leukemia. Upon arriving they still did not have the answers they so badly wanted, as far as treatment and if it was curable. They all kept telling them how rare this disease was and they could not pin point which type of leukemia she had. It was not until the tissue was sent to a Leukemia specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital that they finally had an answer. EllaMae was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

After the tissue was sent to St. Jude they were able to go home after one night at OLOL. They were told to pack their bags and expect to travel and stay in Memphis for a few weeks. As soon as the Dr. called from St. Jude they would have to travel there for a treatment plan. They spent a weekend home waiting for the call. The coordinator from St. Jude called the following Monday and told them to expect to be there Tuesday late afternoon. They finished packing, made some arrangements, and hit the road to travel to Memphis, Tennessee. Once they arrived, the whirlwind truly started. They had a number of appointments and tours and meetings to be able to have an accurate treatment plan. After figuring out her results the treatment began. She would undergo 6 months’ worth of chemo treatments. The treatments are 10 days inpatient with multiple rounds of chemo each day. There are about 30 days in between each treatment for her levels to come back up and her body to heal. During the healing time we have to keep her away from anyone to avoid infections.

After staying in Memphis for almost 3 months, they have finally been transferred to Baton Rouge for treatment. During this time Kayla is staying home to care for EllaMae. Devin is off and on at work and takes off during her treatments. Having one income and lots of travel and medical expense make things difficult for the family.