Support Josie's Battle Against Leukemia

My name is Daughn Stombaugh, I've been a member of the La Mesa Village Community since 1996. That is when I met the owner of Joe 'n Andy's, Joe Himmelberg. I soon met his daughter Josie, she was only 1 at the time. I became friends with Joe, along with an entire community of people. Even after the establishment closed, we stayed close. The three of us, along with my wife and daughter, ended up working for the same organization. Sadly in 2016 Joe passed away, leaving a huge hole in all of our lives. Soon after, the organization we worked for closed. Josie and I still stayed in touch through social media. Then the other day I saw this post from her:

Hi, everyone

I have been hospitalized at UCSD Jacobs Medical Center for the last 2 weeks. I haven't said anything because I didn't really have the words, or emotional bandwidth to process what was happening to me.

About 3 weeks ago I went to an Urgent Care with what I thought was COVID. I did test positive for COVID, the doctor sent me on my way with a prescription for cough tablets and nasal spray. Another week went by and I felt worse, and now had sores all over my mouth and was unable to eat. I went back to the Urgent Care, and the doctor recommended I go straight to the ER as she had no idea what it could be.

I went to the ER, and they ended up taking samples of my bloods. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, a doctor came in and reported that my white blood cell counts were 170,000 (a normal WBC would be 5,000-10,000) The doctor explained to me my body was fighting off something much worse than COVID. They suspected blood cancer.

I was then medically transported directly from the ER to UCSD Jacobs where they confirmed I have Leukemia. Specifically AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia).

It's caused by random mutations in the DNA, and in my case it happens in my bone marrow. Here is a link for anyone interested in learning more about the condition.

https://www.cancer.org/.../acute.../about/what-is-aml.html

I did a bone marrow biopsy and 1 week of chemotherapy, along with countless blood and platelet transfusions. The next step for me is waiting until Monday when they can recheck my bone marrow biopsy and see if the chemotherapy treatment was effective.

I am currently pretty exhausted from the medications, and try to rest as much as I can. So, please don't think I am ignoring anyone. My mom Keelie Smith has been supporting me through everything and is great at communicating on my behalf if anyone would like to visit me in the hospital please DM her. I will be here for at least another 2 weeks depending on how my body responds to everything.

I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to get through this, and just wanted to give everyone an update. Thank you for taking the time to read my post ✌️

I was devastated! Her father was instrumental in getting my daughter into her dream college. So, I figured it's only fair that if he helped my daughter get into college, I can help his daughter fight for her life. I was notified that Josie has no health coverage, and this fight is expensive. So, we are trying to raise as much money as we can to help with her extensive medical expenses. Anything helps! Please help! We're also organizing a fundraiser on November 15th at the Navajo Live. Please give what you can to keep this shining light lit.