Support Hunter Lynn's Fight Against Cancer

Hunter was recently diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma after an emergency room visit for what her parents thought was a cough revealed fluid and masses in her chest were putting pressure on her vital organs. She spent 11 very scary days in the PICU, and we are incredibly grateful for the dedicated doctors and nurses who fought to save her life.

Though Hunter is now stable and receiving chemotherapy, the road ahead is going to be tough. The type of cancer she has is aggressive, and her treatment plan reflects that urgency. Thankfully, the doctors are very optimistic, and the treatment is already showing positive signs.

While we are relieved that Hunter is on the path to recovery, the reality of mounting medical debt is weighing heavily on her family. Her parents, Jeff and Whitney, have been by her side for over a month and have been unable to work. As you can imagine, navigating this nightmare—balancing the emotional toll of supporting a child through brutal cancer treatment and worrying about overwhelming medical expenses—is incredibly challenging.

Please consider helping support Hunter and her family during this difficult time as she fights against cancer. Your generosity can make a difference in their journey toward healing.

Here’s a message from Whitney and an account of the past 39 harrowing days…

It's impossible to find the words that describe the emotions I felt as I held my daughter and not know if she'll wake up in the morning. What we experienced was beyond words; it was a raw, intense journey that tested every part of my being and was so traumatic it shook me to my core, changing me forever.

9/12 Thursday evening: A trip to the ER to get Hunter checked out for what we believed to be a lingering cough from a cold she had 2 weeks prior led to her being admitted to Children’s Mercy Hospital PICU for respiratory distress. But the severity of her condition had yet to be uncovered.

Several labs, tests, and scans revealed that she had a buildup of fluid in her chest, around her heart and lungs, along with masses of cells near her lungs and spine. These masses were putting pressure on her heart and lungs, leading to acute respiratory failure. Hunter was in critical condition.

Late Friday 9/12, she had a procedure for chest tube drain placement and pericardial drain placement to drain fluid from around her lungs and heart. Despite these interventions, she remained critically ill and extremely high risk for further progression and/or cardiovascular failure. Such failures would not be able to be rescued by conventional means and could require ECMO support. Surgical teams were on standby.

Additional scans revealed that her right lung was now also filling with fluid and would require a chest tube. Friday 9/13 at 1 pm, Hunter's procedure included right chest tube placement, biopsy of mediastinal mass, bone marrow tissue sample, and PICC line placement for future chemotherapy treatments. Before and after this procedure, Hunter became hypertensive. Doctors suspected multi-organ dysfunction.

Despite her team’s best efforts, Hunter developed a slew of life-threatening complications: hyperlactemia, hyperammonia, uncompensated shock, which meant she was now in multi-organ failure, anuric renal failure, acute liver failure, biventricular heart failure, and respiratory failure. Jeff and I made the decision to intubate her to support her while her body got the rest it needed.

It will forever be etched in my brain, my baby just lying in the hospital bed with a machine keeping her alive when not 5 minutes before she was sassing the anesthesia guys and giving them what for. And then a silence so deafening I could hear my own heartbeat.

Over the next few days (9/14 and 9/15), Hunter's condition hadn't changed—not getting worse and not getting better—and the machines just kept multiplying. Continuous renal therapy (dialysis) and ongoing liver support became necessary. Plasma exchange also took place during this time. Despite numerous treatments, she remained critically ill. We also finally got results of her masses. Official diagnosis came: non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Emergent chemo along with steroids were started immediately to help improve her function.

By Monday 9/16, she was showing some clinical improvement, and by Tuesday 9/17, they were weaning medications. By Friday 9/20, Hunter was extubated. 8 days. 8 of the longest days of my life. And most of it happened in the first 20 hours of this ordeal.

We were discharged from the PICU Sunday 9/22 and moved to the hematology/oncology wing of CMH, where another fight would begin for her.

Her cancer is aggressive and fast-growing. With aggressive cancer comes aggressive treatment.

In 39 days, we've spent 9 non-consecutive days at home. Side effects of chemotherapy and meds are hitting her hard. I'm actually writing this from a room on the oncology floor at CMH.

Hunter hates every part of this, but being stuck here makes it more real for her. And these days, I actually like hearing her sassy mouth complain. 39 days ago, everyone thought the worst and told us to be prepared in case Hunter didn't make it. But my girl is stubborn and strong. Now I am comforted when I look up and see her alive and breathing across from me in the very place that saved her.

Jeff and I 100% agree that had we been transported anywhere other than CMH, Hunter wouldn't be here today. Every person we came into contact with advocated for Hunter and treated her as if she was one of their own. She put many of them through the wringer during our time in the PICU, and a lot of them come and check on her still. She’s marked them in both good and bad ways, ways that our family just continues to grow.

I will never be able to express just how grateful we are to everyone who has helped us from now to the very start. We've probably been in contact with over 200 CMH staff members, and I'll never forget what they did for all of us.

With each step of this journey, I've been forced to confront my deepest fears and find strength in the most unexpected places.