Help Kede Fight Leukemia

Hey friends! My name is Kede and I need your help. I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in January 2022 on my 43rd birthday and have had quite the journey since. AML is a blood and bone marrow cancer that can only be cured with a successful Stem Cell Transplant (previously called a Bone Marrow Transplant). I also have a pretty nasty genetic mutation in my blood, FLT3, that makes AML much more agressive.

My treatment started in Dallas where I spent a total of 12 weeks in the hospital over 3 visits during which I received 3 different types of chemo. During a large portion of this time, due to covid visitation restrictions, I was not able to see my sweet 1 year old, Zoe, which made things very hard. When I was not inpatient, I had doctors appointments 3 times a week to check my blood levels. I had MANY blood and platelet transfusions to keep me healthy enough to continue with treatment. Unfortunately, these treatments were not successful enough to get me to transplant so my doctors suggested that I go to MD Anderson in Houston to see if they could help. When I got to MD Anderson they put me on a trial drug and after month of IV chemo followed by oral chemo, I was in remission! For AML, remission means that the cancer cells are below a certain threshhold in your bone marrow. Acheiving remission meant I was ready for a transplant. An international search found 2 perfect 10/10 donor matches.

A Stem Cell Transplant begins with a round of a very intense chemo cocktail meant to completely get rid of your existing immune system and everything in your bone marrow. They then transfuse stem cells collected from the donor and over the next couple of weeks the donor cells begin to work their magic to completely build the reciepient a new, cancer-free immune system and bone marrow cells. Transplant patients and their 24/7 caregiver (my amazing husband Matt) are required to stay within a 30 mile radius of their treatment center for at least 100 days post transplant, which meant moving to Houston for a little over 3 months.

I entered the hospital on October 10th and had my transplant on October 17th. My recovery started off relatively well, but I had a seizure and spent several days in the ICU a couple of weeks after my transplant. I was finally deemed stable enough for intense outpatient care and was released from the hospital on November 21st.

Thinking that my biggest hurdle was over, we focused on post transplant recovery which included daily treatments at MD Anderson. 40 days post transplant I got a bone marrow biopsy to check on my new bone marrow. Unfortunately this did not produce good news. The test showed that I had cancer cells present including my mutated cells. I had officially relapsed and the transplant had failed. Fortunately, my doctors had already formulated a new plan. I have been put into a new trial, which will hopefully get me back to remission. After I have acheived remission, I will face another transplant.

This means months of traveling back and forth between Houston and Dallas. We were able to get through the first rounds of treatment and transplant fairly well on savings. However now that we are facing a whole other go at things, we need help. Your gift will help to pay for travel expenses, medical/prescription copays, lodging, help with child care, and other day to day expenses.

Thank you so much for the love, support, and prayers that you have already given our family. Matt, Zoe and I are so thankful for all of our prayer warriors!! We could not have come this far without you guys!! We love you so much!!! I promise to keep fighting for you.