My daughter Josie has always been an over achiever. She excelled in school, made varsity volleyball by sophmore year. Getting accepted to some really good colleges was next, and she chose University of Oregon. She studied so hard that she graduated, with honors, in just 3 years. She has a BS in Major in Evolutionary Biology, and a minor in Geology. It was a proud day at her graduation, I have had the pleasure of always being proud of her though. So I have no doubt that she is gonna kick this in the butt as well! She is strong, smart and so funny. I am so glad she is still on this planet. Thank you for reading my mom brag, now I will post her story in her own words. <3 

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 I had sores all over my mouth and was unable to eat. I went back to 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).Random mutations in the DNA cause it, and in my case it happens in my bone marrow. Here is a link for anyone interested in learning more about the condition.

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 ?✌️