JoJo's Fight Against Leukemia

Hello!

Angie (Helmers) Mayer here. As some of you may have already heard, it's been a crazy two months for my mom, Joan Helmers. At the beginning of her leukemia battle, Mom chose to keep the news quiet, and we honored those wishes by not personally telling many people. Those who have found out have been supportive, and we thank you for your offers of help, your thoughts and prayers, and your contributions to my daughter Elliott's fundraiser for her grandma JoJo.

Without sharing publicly on Facebook or any social media, my 7-year-old, Ellie, managed to raise over $3,000 so far! She has surpassed her original goals (and even got cut off her hair in front of her elementary school on Friday, Oct. 22), but hopes we can keep supporting Grandma JoJo.

If you didn't get a chance to see Ellie's letter, I'll post it here. She must’ve heard us talking about the costs of cancer treatment because she wanted to raise money to help with chemo costs - and now stem cell transplant costs, too.

My mom was diagnosed with leukemia at the beginning of August. She had been very tired and always cold. She also had some weird bruises that we now know were because her hemoglobin was so low / a sign of her cancer. Bloodwork done at her yearly check-up (because she had thyroid cancer back in 2009) resulted in her being sent right away to Iowa Methodist in Des Moines, where she spent most of August. Mom has ALL - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. More specifically, Philadelphia Chromosome-Positive Ph+ Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

They started chemo the second full day she was in the hospital. She has been through a couple rounds of chemo, and now she’s onto the next phase of treatment (a new pill and an IV at home giving continuous chemo); her port was put in on Monday, Oct. 11, and she’ll do this for a total of 4 weeks. In November, she goes back to Omaha to plan for her stem cell transplant. I know this includes a day of testing with CT scans, an MRI, and heart tests. At some point, she'll have more chemo and radiation in Omaha, as well as another lumbar puncture and bone marrow biopsy. She (and a caregiver) will need to stay in Omaha for a couple months for the stem cell transplant. We’ll find out more about that at her appointments there next month.

My older brother, Greg, will be taking care of her in Omaha. Thankfully, he's been a huge help these last two months, staying with her at the hospital in Des Moines, interpreting all the doctor-speak, and even staying in Palmer once my mom was able to go home. This enables my dad to continue working. His employers have been supportive and understanding through all of this, but as I said, having my brother there to help with Mom means Dad can keep working to pay the bills - both normal and medical.

As I said earlier, Ellie is very excited to help Grandma JoJo. My kids haven't been able to see JoJo since she was diagnosed with leukemia, so I am glad Ellie came up with this way to help JoJo from afar. Ellie's initial letter found its way to her P.E. teacher at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Elementary, who does a cancer fundraiser every October. Upon reading Ellie's letter, Janet Prins reached out to me to see if the elementary could help out - and if my mom (through Ellie's fundraiser) could be the recipient of the money raised this year! To say we were touched and honored is a massive understatement. Her teachers were so proud that Ellie was trying to raise money and was willing to cut off her hair to donate to Wigs for Kids. I was/am so thankful that we live in a community that wanted to help us in such a generous and awesome way!

The students at the elementary brought in money on Friday, Oct. 22. With cash alone, they reached Ellie's initial goal of $500. We'll get a check for the total after they tally everything up; the HMS kids had filled a big fish tank about half full with change!

Once donations had started rolling in from just family members, Ellie (and I) realized we hadn't thought big enough with her fundraising goal. She raised it to $1,500 and has easily passed that. Now that we are thinking more about JoJo's expenses (medical bills; chemo pills taken at home that aren't covered by insurance; gas to appointments in Fort Dodge, Des Moines, and Omaha; and having to live in Omaha for 3 months), Ellie is hoping to reach a total of $10,000. We've gotten this far with donations both big and small, and we are SO THANKFUL to each and every one of you who sent money to my Venmo or who donated through Ellie's school. Every little bit helps, as do the support and love you've sent through messages and prayers.

Mom has responded well to the chemo so far, and she isn't feeling too bad right now in her treatment. She's in good spirits and keeping the faith! I wish I could be with her, but knowing that the money from Ellie's fundraiser and this GoFundMe page will help ease financial burdens makes it all a little easier to handle. We are all grateful, especially JoJo; I told her she hasn't seen anything yet. Now that we are "going public" with her leukemia diagnosis, I know the well-wishes and love will come pouring in!

 

Thank you again!

 

~ the family of Joan Helmers