Urgent Need to Save Emily!!

Please help save the life of my 28-year-old sister Emily Setteducato. After being diagnosed with Acute Leukemia, undergoing testing, treatments, multiple rounds of Chemotherapy, and a stem cell transplant, Emily has now contracted a life-threatening infection.

We are in immediate need to raise money to cover the cost of her recent admission into a treatment program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in Ohio. She will need to travel back and forth to Ohio several times under a physician’s care with each trip costing tens of thousands of dollars.

Your contribution will help cover this cost.

More on Emily’s story and fight will be posted here soon. Thank you for your support!

More on Emily’s story:

In December 2021, after not understanding why her strong, healthy 27-year-old body was not feeling well, Emily was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia (AML). As Emily does with all things, she took this diagnosis head-on with positivity and strength always believing she would beat this cancer.

Emily spent months in the hospital undergoing testing, treatments and multiple rounds of chemotherapy. Through all of the pain and heartbreak, she had an amazingly positive attitude and kept focused on anything doctors told her to do so she could get back to her loyal friends, large extended family, and back into the classroom with her students.

After chemotherapy, Emily was fortunate enough to have received a stem cell transplant in April 2022. She is beyond grateful for the anonymous donor and has been talking about how excited she is to be able to thank this person who has given her the opportunity to live.

Emily was able to get back to living in the summer of 2022, seeing family, friends, and planning a future, especially with her long-time boyfriend, Will. In the fall of 2022, Emily was beyond excited to return to her passion of teaching in the Paterson, NJ school district, a challenging role but incredibly rewarding for her to help children start out on the right path.

She celebrated her 28th birthday in October which took on more meaning than anyone could imagine. Her life is a gift to us all and she celebrated this gift with friends and family. As she was able to get back to living she continued her treatment plan and follow-ups all to be sure this cancer would not win. In December, Emily was able to celebrate the holidays including taking on her new role as an aunt showering her nephew with love, seeing her Grandma Setteducato, and finally getting back to “Newman Family Christmas”, a family tradition started by her grandparents over 50 years ago.

“We have so many plans this year, 2023 is gonna be it…, she was so happy the past few months especially since she was back to teaching,” says Will. Emily has a full life ahead of her- students, family, a huge group of loyal friends and a partner in Will, who has stood by her and supported her through everything - just as Emily has always done for others.

Things were starting to look up for Emily until very recently when she contracted a virus that her body, though getting stronger every day, could just not fight. Currently, she has an infection known as JC virus (a virus affecting the brain) as well as GVHD (graph versus host disease). "The JC virus, or John Cunningham virus, is a common germ. More than half of all adults have been exposed to it. It doesn't cause problems for most people, but it can be dangerous if you have a weak immune system."(webmd.com)

Typically the body fights off JC naturally, but because of the steroids, she's on for GVHD her body can't fight it. The doctors can't remove the steroids because they need to get the GVHD under control. So she has two conditions and her body and medicine can't fight both at once.

Doctors were able to get Emily accepted into a clinical trial at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital requiring her to travel via medical air transport from New Jersey several times. Each trip can cost upwards of $50,000 – more than a NJ preschool teacher’s annual salary.

Please help Emily recover and continue the fight!