HOPE & LOVE 4 the ISAKSEN Family #aml #badblood

Sometimes “life” happens, and it takes your breath away.  That is how the family and friends of Christina Hemp Isaksen have been feeling for the past 2 weeks! 

HISTORY:
Approximately 6 - 7 months ago, Christina came down with a really bad cold with the typical cold/flu symptoms of fever, chills, terrible sore throat, runny nose, deep chest cough and overall fatigue.  She suspected she likely had strep throat.  Weeks pasted and her cold symptoms persisted; she just could not get better.  Weeks turned into months and she developed additional symptoms of extreme fatigue, mouth sores, swollen lymph nodes and overall body aches.  Alarmed and determined to find out why she felt SO TERRIBLE, she went in to see her OBGYN and requested she do every blood test possible.  When the result came back, her white blood cell count was dangerously high and she was referred to an oncologist.  From there, additional testing was performed, including a bone marrow biopsy, which definitively concluded what we desperately prayed was not our reality; Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

DIAGNOSIS:
Acute Myeloid Leukemia with FLT3 gene mutation. 

PROGNOSIS/TREATMENT:
Unfortunately, patients with the FLT3 mutation have a very aggressive form of leukemia that is likely to return after even successful treatments and are therefore considered to be high risk.  FORTUNATELY, Christina was accepted into a trial study of a new medication specific to this type of gene mutation and the doctors are hopeful!

Phase 1 of treatment is intensive inpatient chemotherapy for 4 to 6 weeks. At that time, doctors will evaluate whether her blood counts have returned to normal and verify whether leukemia is still present in her bone marrow (via another bone marrow biopsy).  When these 2 factors are reached, she will be considered in remission and progress into the next phase of treatment.   

Further treatment will consist of a bone marrow transplant and additional outpatient chemotherapy which is used to destroy AML cells that remain but cannot be detected by medical tests.

These are all best case scenarios, provided there are no complications such as infections or adverse responses to the medications.

PERSONAL HISTORY:
Christina is a 39-year-old, married, mother of 3 small children; age 8, 6 and 20 months.  She is a stay at home mom and the primary caretaker of her children and their home.  She is the CEO of all the small details of their lives.   

Due to the severity of the diagnosis and the intensive treatment, Christina’s young children cannot visit her in the hospital.  That means 4 to 6 weeks of no snuggles from her babies and no mom hugs for those precious children!  They are all aching to be together again as a family!

Mia and Henry are in school during the day, but baby Annie is not.  The Isaksen family has stepped in and lovingly helped care for Annie during the day while James is at work.  Because the kids cannot go to the hospital, James uses his lunch hour to visit Christina and then cares for the children in the evenings.  As you can imagine, it has been extremely emotionally and physically exhausting for everyone.

Friends have rallied and showered them with love by way of well wishes, dinners and small gifts (lots of slipper, LOL).  Most (like myself) feel helpless but eager to jump at any need that can been filled or burden that can be lifted.

******************** HOPE CAN YOU HELP? *******************

Financially, James and Christina were unprepared for such extensive out of pocket medical expenses! To date, they have had to pay for their out of pocket deductible of $2,500, the bone marrow biopsy $1,300 and a CT Scan $1,500. 

There will of course be additional expenses; but for today, I would like to combine hearts and resources with their family and friends and any other caring generous soul that is touched by their story and grateful that today their own reality does not include Leukemia, to recoup this out of pocket medical expense totaling $5,300. 

This can easily be accomplished by:

1060 donations of $5, or

530 donations of $10, or

265 donations of $20, or

212 donations of $25 or

106 donations of $50 or

53 donations of $100 or

35 donations of $150 or

26 donations of $200, and so on! You get the idea!

With the smallest amount of sacrifice like your daily soda, your weekly eating out meal, or the “extras” in your budget, WE CAN HELP EASE THE BURDENS of this family.

If your pockets are empty but your heart is full, you can still make a difference!  We do not underestimate the POWER of PRAYER and they need a hefty team of PRAYER WARRIORS, to cry unto The Lord and petition Him for miracles and healing.

You can also help spread the word by sharing this campaign via your social media platforms or email.